The Russian flag flying in front of the Russian Embassy in Washington. (April 15, 2021)
Biden signed an executive order Thursday that pushes back against Russia for interfering in last year’s U.S. election, launching cyberattacks and increasing tensions along the border with Ukraine, introducing a new set of sanctions.
In a statement released Thursday (April 15), the White House stressed that the executive order demonstrates the U.S. administration’s determination to address and deter the Russian government from carrying out “a full range of harmful activities.
The White House announced the expulsion of 10 Russian diplomats in Washington, including members of the Russian intelligence agency in the United States.
The statement named the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) as having conducted large-scale espionage activities against SolarWinds Orion, a U.S. network infrastructure detection, analysis and management software system, and other U.S. information technology infrastructure. The statement said U.S. intelligence agencies have a high degree of certainty that the activities were orchestrated by Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service.
Microsoft President Brad Smith (Brad Smith) described the attack as “the largest and most sophisticated attack the world has ever seen.
The statement said disrupting the system would allow Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service to gain the ability to spy on and interfere with more than 16,000 computer systems around the world. Such an attack poses a threat to the national security and public safety of the United States.
The statement said the National Security Agency, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation issued joint cybersecurity advisories to interested parties to be alert to Russian Foreign Intelligence Service sabotage activities.
The U.S. Treasury Department ordered that U.S. financial institutions be prohibited from participating in transactions in the primary market for ruble or non-ruble bonds issued by the Central Bank of Russia, the State Wealth Fund of the Russian Federation and the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation after June 14, 2021. The Treasury Department also imposed sanctions on six Russian technology companies that provided support for Russian intelligence agency cyber projects. The statement said it wants to continue to pursue these companies for malicious cyber activities.
The U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on 16 entities and 16 individuals for interfering in the 2020 U.S. presidential election, disseminating false information and interfering in activities at the direction of the Russian government. U.S. intelligence agencies said in a report released last month that Russian President Vladimir Putin likely made directives to try to influence the 2020 presidential election race with the aim of helping former President Donald Trump.
The White House statement also said the U.S. Treasury Department will also join forces with the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada to impose sanctions on eight entities and individuals involved in Russia’s occupation and suppression of Crimea. The transatlantic allies are united in their support for Ukraine’s actions to counter Russian provocations along its eastern contact line and the Ukrainian borderline. The U.S. Treasury Department believes that Russia must immediately cease its military build-up and actions spreading inflammatory rhetoric along the Russian-Ukrainian border.
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