Kremlin slams Western cyberattack claims

Western attempts to blame Russian military intelligence services for cyberattacks are rooted in "frenzied Russophobia", Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday.

Russia strongly regrets that Western nations have developed a tendency to blame Russia and its intelligence services for everything, Peskov said in a news conference.

"The Russian Federation and its special services have never undertaken any cyberattacks, especially against the Olympics," he said.

The UK Foreign Office on Monday claimed that Russia's Main Intelligence Directorate had carried out "cyber reconnaissance against officials and organizations at the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games due to take place in Tokyo this summer before they were postponed".

According to the British authorities, "the targets included the Games' organizers, logistics services and sponsors".

In the United States, the Justice Department on Monday unsealed charges accusing six Russian military intelligence officers of an aggressive worldwide hacking campaign that caused mass disruption and cost billions of dollars. They were alleged to have attacked targets like a French presidential election, the electricity grid in Ukraine and the opening ceremony of the Pyeongchang 2018 Olympic Winter Games.

Destructive 'endeavors'

Addressing the UK claims, the Russian embassy in London said they were made without evidence, and were part of an effort to sour relations between Russia and other states.

"There is nothing new about it, considering how much effort was spent by London to drive a wedge in our ties with Ukraine and Georgia, for example," the embassy said in a statement. "These 'endeavors' are destructive for Russian-British relations and for the UK's international prestige."

The embassy said Russia saw the latest accusations as part of a "wave of unprovoked malign attacks" conducted under a "consistent disinformation campaign to smear Russia".

For the US Justice Department's case, John Demers, the US assistant attorney general for national security, said the prosecutors focused on seven breaches that together showed how Russia sought in recent years to use its hacking abilities to undermine democratic institutions and ideals, retaliate against enemies and destroy rival economies.

The Russian embassy in Washington strongly denied the allegations. "It is absolutely obvious that such news breaks have no bearing on reality and are aimed at whipping up Russophobic sentiments in American society, at launching a 'witch hunt' and spy mania, which have been a distinctive feature of the political life in Washington for several years," the embassy's press office said.