U.S. imposes sanctions over Russian interference

The U.S. Department of Treasury on Thursday designated four individuals linked to Russia, including a Ukrainian lawmaker with ties to Rudy Giuliani, for interfering in this year’s election. The sanctions block the individuals’ property in the United States and ban Americans from engaging in business with them.

Who was sanctioned? They include Andrii Derkach, a Ukrainian lawmaker the U.S. government described as an active Russian agent for more than a decade. His involvement in Russian interference in U.S. politics began at least in late 2019 and continued this year when he released edited audiotapes of Joe Biden’s dealings with former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to advance, according to the Treasury Department, “false and unsubstantiated narratives.” Derkach met with Giuliani, President Donald Trump’s personal attorney, late last year, but Giuliani told The New York Times he had “no reason to believe [Derkach] is a Russian agent.”

The Treasury Department also sanctioned three other Russian nationals: Artem Lifshits, Anton Andreyev, and Darya Aslanova, who worked with a Russian internet troll factory known as the Internet Research Agency. Also on Thursday, Microsoft reported Russian, Chinese, and Iranian hackers tried to breach the computer systems of individuals and organizations associated with the Trump and Biden campaigns.

Dig deeper: Read Harvest Prude’s report in The Stew on issues with the FBI investigation into potential Russian collusion with the Trump campaign.