US to announce new sanctions on Russia over hacking of government agencies and alleged election interference

The United States is expected to impose new sanctions on Russia as soon as today in response to government hacking and suspected election meddling.

According to officials speaking privately to the AP and Reuters news agencies, thirty companies will be blacklisted, and about ten Russian officials will be removed as a result of the measures.

It is partly retaliation over last year's Solarwinds hacking attack, which infected the popular US-made software with rogue code and enabled access to at least nine government agencies and thousands of companies.

American officials believe Russia was behind the breach, identified in December, and officials are still assessing what information may have been compromised.

Microsoft president Brad Smith called it "the largest and most sophisticated attack the world has ever seen".

Another reason for the sanctions is alleged Russian hacking of the US presidential election last year.

According to a US intelligence report released last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin likely orchestrated a futile attempt to hold Donald Trump in power.

The White House and State Department have not yet spoken officially on the expected sanctions but President Joe Biden has not hidden his feelings towards President Putin.

Also Read: Joe Biden calls for peace as new violence erupts in Belfast, including the use of water cannons on rioters

He admitted to being a "killer" in a TV interview last month, and tensions are growing as Russian troops mass near Ukraine and in Crimea, the peninsula that Ukraine annexed in 2014.

Last week, the Kremlin retaliated against "America's aggression and unpredictability," saying it needed to be "prepared for the worst scenarios," according to spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

It's uncertain what new initiatives will do, since recent efforts seem to have failed to discourage.

Seven Russian officials and around a dozen government agencies were sanctioned last month in connection with the nerve agent assault on prominent Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny and his subsequent imprisonment.

In 2016, President Barack Obama expelled diplomats in response to further hacking charges in the 2016 election, and President Donald Trump did the same in 2018 in response to the poisoning of a former Russian spy in Salisbury.