US Treasury Sanctions 15 GRU Members for Alleged Election Interference

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The United States has sanctioned 15 members of Russia's Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) for taking part in alleged malign activities, including the 2016 US election meddling, hacking the World Anti-Doping Agency, and the nerve agent attack on Sergei Skripal and his daughter, the US Treasury Department said Wednesday.

"Today’s action also includes the designation of 15 members of the GRU, a previously designated Russian military intelligence organization, for their involvement in a wide range of malign activity, including attempting to interfere in the 2016 US election, efforts to undermine international organizations through cyber-enabled means, and an assassination attempt in the United Kingdom," the release said.

The nine GRU officers accused of interfering with the US 2016 election, who now face charges under the Countering America's  Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), include Viktor Netysho, Boris Antonov, Ivan Yermakov, Aleksey Lukashev, Nikolay Kozachek, Artem Malyshev, Aleksandr Osadchuk, Aleksey Potemkin and Anatoliy Kovalev.

The release said Russian hackers targeted the World Abno-Doping Agency (WADA), and the Treasury Department sanctioned GRU officers Oleg Sotnikov and Aleey Minin who it says played a key role in compromising the WADA database.

READ MORE: US Charges 7 Alleged Russian Military Intel Officers Over Hacking OPCW, WADA

The United States has sanctioned Russian nationals Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov over their alleged involvement in the nerve agent attack against former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in the United Kingdom.

The UK-based Bellingcat project claimed that it had identified Boshirov as Russian military intelligence colonel Anatoliy Chepiga and suggested that Petrov was actually a military doctor Alexander Mishkin.

Russia has repeatedly denied the allegations of meddling in the 2016 US election, attacking the Skripaks and hacking the WADA.