UPDATE 2 - US sanctions Russia for election meddling, hacking

ADDS DETAILS THROUGHOUT

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - The U.S. slapped new sanctions on Russia on Thursday for its alleged interference in the 2016 presidential election and continued efforts to hack American infrastructure.

In all, 19 individuals were blacklisted along with five entities, including the Internet Research Agency (IRA), a Russian company indicted by Special Counsel Robert Mueller for allegedly seeking to alter the outcome of the 2016 race.

Officials described the IRA as working to foment division in American society through a robust social media program, popularly known as a "troll farm".

All 13 of the individuals indicted by Mueller were sanctioned, including Yevgeniy Viktorovich Prigozhin, a Russian oligarch with close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, as well as his Concord Management and Consulting LLC, and Concord Catering. Thirteen of the blacklisted individuals were designated for their work with the IRA, which Prigozhin allegedly funded.

"These targeted sanctions are a part of a broader effort to address the ongoing nefarious attacks emanating from Russia," Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said in a statement.

Additional sanctions are in the works "to hold Russian government officials and oligarchs accountable for their destabilizing activities by severing their access to the U.S. financial system", he added.

The penalties Thursday are in response to a broad set of activities the U.S. is tying to Russia, including the NotPetya cyberattack that affected companies across the globe.

The British and American governments have laid the blame for NotPetya with the Russian military. It has been described as the costliest cyberattack in history.

Senior national security officials who briefed reporters said the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI have determined Russia has tried to penetrate America's energy grid and other vital sectors.

The officials said U.S. agencies have worked with private businesses to thwart such attacks, but said the long-term "multi-stage campaign" is "ongoing".

The hackers are targeting industrial control systems, or the systems that run factories and the energy grid, the official said on condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the information.

After gaining access through a variety of techniques, including spear phishing-emails and watering hole domains, the hackers conducted "network reconnaissance" of the key systems, according to the official.

Many of the sanctions that were issued Thursday fall under authorities granted to the president last year by Congress. The Trump administration has faced criticism for failing to use the powers.

Those designated under the congressionally-mandated authorities include Russia's internal and external intelligence agencies, the Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU), and the Federal Security Service (FSB), respectively. They were previously sanctioned in 2016 under presidential authorities.

Three previously sanctioned GRU officials were also designated. Sergei Afanasyev, described by the Treasury Department as a former senior GRU official, was the sole new designee under the congressional authorizations.

*Gulbin Yildirim contributed to this report