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US Indicts Russian Intelligence Officials over Cyberattacks Targeting Ukraine

FILE PHOTO: A man holds a laptop computer as cyber code is projected on him in this illustration picture taken on May 13, 2017. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/Illustration/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A man holds a laptop computer as cyber code is projected on him in this illustration picture taken on May 13, 2017. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/Illustration/File Photo
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US Indicts Russian Intelligence Officials over Cyberattacks Targeting Ukraine

FILE PHOTO: A man holds a laptop computer as cyber code is projected on him in this illustration picture taken on May 13, 2017. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/Illustration/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A man holds a laptop computer as cyber code is projected on him in this illustration picture taken on May 13, 2017. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/Illustration/File Photo

The US on Thursday charged five Russian intelligence officials and a Russian civilian with conspiring to launch cyberattacks against Ukraine and its allies in a bid to hobble Ukraine.
In a revised indictment unsealed on Thursday, the Justice Department said a cyber unit of Russia's military intelligence agency conducted "large-scale cyber operations" starting as far back as 2020, before Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
The original indictment, filed in June in the US District Court for the District of Maryland, only named a single defendant: Amin Stigal.
According to Reuters, it accused him of conspiring with Russia's military intelligence agency, known as the Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff, or GRU, to launch cyber attacks against computer systems in Ukraine and other countries, including a computer network maintained by an unnamed US agency in Maryland.
Thursday's news comes just one day after the US took several legal actions against Russia to combat alleged efforts to meddle in the 2024 presidential elections, including charging two employees of the Russian state media network RT and sanctioning RT and its top network editor.
It also came on the same day that the Justice Department announced it had secured two indictments against Russian TV contributor Dimitri Simes and his wife over sanctions violations and money laundering.
Earlier on Thursday, intelligence agencies in the US and the United Kingdom warned that a cyber espionage group located within Russia's GRU known as "Unit 29155" was destructively targeting critical national infrastructure.
Unit 29155, which is the group at the heart of Thursday's indictment, is a covert part of the GRU which carries out subversion, sabotage and assassination missions outside Russia, Western officials told Reuters.

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Iran Guards: Our Forces Are in Best Operational Shape in Hormuz Strait

Commander of the IRGC naval forces Alireza Tangsiri tours Abu Musa Island on Thursday. (IRGC media0
Commander of the IRGC naval forces Alireza Tangsiri tours Abu Musa Island on Thursday. (IRGC media0
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Iran Guards: Our Forces Are in Best Operational Shape in Hormuz Strait

Commander of the IRGC naval forces Alireza Tangsiri tours Abu Musa Island on Thursday. (IRGC media0
Commander of the IRGC naval forces Alireza Tangsiri tours Abu Musa Island on Thursday. (IRGC media0

Commander of the naval forces of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Alireza Tangsiri said his forces deployed in the Hormuz Strait are “in their best operational shape”.

He made his remarks after the United States said it was keeping two aircraft carrier groups deployed in the region amid the ongoing tensions between Iran and Israel.

Tangsiri inspected IRGC forces deployed in the Hormuz Strait and Iran-occupied United Arab Emirates islands of Abu Musa, the Greater and Lesser Tunbs, and Sirri.

The visit aimed to assess the operational readiness of the equipment that has been added to the defense lines on the islands and Hormuz Strait, he told state television.

This includes rocket and surveillance systems and drones, which he said are in “their best possible shape.”

In a message to “neighbors and Gulf countries,” Tangsiri said: “We have repeatedly stressed that our message is that of friendship and unity.”

At the same time, “the presence of enemies in the region aims to sow division and strife,” he was quoted as saying by the Fars news agency.

Meanwhile, IRGC commanders reiterated their threats to attack Israel in retaliation to the assassination of Hamas politburo chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in July.

Brigadier General Ali Abdollahi, Deputy Commander of the General Staff of the Armed Forces for Coordination Affairs, said on Wednesday that the retaliation “against the Zionist regime is inevitable”.

The timing of the attack has not been set and is up to Iran, he stated.

He also defended the attacks the Iran-backed Houthi militias have been carrying out against international shipping in the Red Sea, saying: “Their stand against the Zionist and American crimes has been a thorn in their side.”

He compared them to Iran during the early days of its revolution, saying they are “showing resistance through minimal military means against drones and American battleships.”

Deputy Commander for Operations of the Quds Force - the IRGC’s foreign arm - Brigadier General Mohsen Chizari said Iran’s retaliation will be “different” and it will depend on “the conditions and location where it believes it can achieve goals.”

Iran will keep the element of surprise and will show patience and restraint, he added.

On Tuesday, Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Major General Pat Ryder confirmed that the US will keep its aircraft carriers in the region given that Iran has yet to launch its retaliatory strikes.

“Iran has indicated that it intends to retaliate, so we will continue to take that threat seriously,” he told a press briefing without elaborating.

The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group was deployed to the region last month given the regional tensions.