UK sanctions Russian hackers, spies as US weighs its own punishments for Russia

As the U.S. government contemplates additional sanctions on Moscow, the United Kingdom went ahead and levied its own Friday against what it said was a group of Russia’s hackers and spies. 

The sanctions target 18 military intelligence officers and three divisions of the Russian military unit known as the GRU. Cyber operations in support of Russia’s war against Ukraine drew the U.K. targeting of the hackers.

“The GRU routinely uses cyber and information operations to sow chaos, division and disorder in Ukraine and across the world with devastating real-world consequences,” reads a news release.

But the sanctions also go after the use of malware tied to an attempted assassination of a former Russian double agent residing on U.K. soil and the related poisoning of his daughter.

“Today’s action also hits GRU military intelligence officers responsible for historically targeting Yulia Skripal’s device with malicious malware known as X-Agent — five years before GRU military intelligence officers’ failed attempt to murder Yulia and Sergei Skripal with the deadly Novichok nerve agent in Salisbury,” the release states.

According to a 2018 U.S. grand jury indictment, X-Agent is custom malware that Russia developed to hack the Democratic National Committee and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee to interfere in the 2016 election.

The U.K. sanctioned some of the military officers for spying operations like those involved in the 2022 bombing of Mauripol Theatre, which had been sheltering Ukrainian civilians.

In the U.S. Congress, lawmakers have been demonstrating some rare bipartisan consensus on the notion of slapping Moscow with more sanctions. That legislation would likewise seek to punish Russian cyber operations in Ukraine, among other Russian aggression in the former Soviet satellite nation.

President Donald Trump, too, has grown impatient with Russian President Vladimir Putin over the Ukraine war and has threatened further sanctions against Moscow and its trade partners.

The United Kingdom warned in a separate alert Friday that GRU cyber operations could spill over from the Ukraine war.

“The future trajectory of this threat remains uncertain and international partners need to prepare for its redirection and a range of potential scenarios,” the alert states.

The three units drawing U.K. sanctions have been connected to a range of hacking activity, from meddling in elections across the globe to the massive 2017 NotPetya attack.

“GRU spies are running a campaign to destabilise Europe, undermine Ukraine’s sovereignty and threaten the safety of British citizens,” said U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy. “The Kremlin should be in no doubt: we see what they are trying to do in the shadows and we won’t tolerate it. …  Putin’s hybrid threats and aggression will never break our resolve.”

You can read the full list of those sanctioned on the U.K. government’s website.