The Justice Department’s National Security Division on Thursday announced criminal charges against seven Russian GRU intelligence officers.
All of the seven officers were indicted by a grand jury in the Western District of Pennsylvania for computer hacking, wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and money laundering, according to the DOJ.
The Justice Department said all men are currently back in Russia and not in custody.
The activity began in December 2014 and ended around May.
The Justice Department said the goals of the Russian officers were to “publicize stolen information as part of an influence and disinformation campaign designed to undermine, retaliate against and otherwise delegitimize” the World Anti-Doping Agency’s effort to expose a Russian state-sponsored athlete doping program.
The Justice Department said in addition to U.S. and international anti-doping agencies and officials, nearly 250 athletes from roughly 30 counties were targeted.
Those targeted publicly supported a ban on Russian participation in international sporting events, and had also publicly condemned Russia’s state-sponsored anti-doping program.
The Russians also targeted a Pennsylvania-based nuclear energy company and an international organization that was investigating the use of chemical weapons in Syria and the poisoning of a former GRU officer.
The announcement comes after the United Kingdom accused the GRU — Russia’s military intelligence agency — of a wave of cyberattacks targeting political, business, media, and sporting institutions.
Three of the seven defendants named Thursday were previously named by special counsel Robert Mueller, who were charged in July related to 2016 election interference.
The charges were not brought by Mueller, who took over the FBI’s investigation into Russian election interference in May 2017.
