US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused Russia of neglecting international stability in cyberspace.

This is stated in his official statement posted on the website of the United States Department of State.

“Such cyber activity indicates a complete disregard for the principles of public security and international stability.

Russia, which positions itself as a champion of stability in cyberspace, is in fact one of the biggest pests on the global Internet.

We call on Russia to end this irresponsible behavior, ”Pompeo said in a statement.

This is how the US Secretary of State commented on the accusation by the US Department of Justice of six Russians of international hacking.

He recalled that the department issued a statement on October 19.

"The criminal charges brought today by the Ministry of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation against six employees of military unit No. 74455 of the Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) of the Russian General Staff, once again draw attention to the ongoing subversive, destructive and destabilizing activities of Russia in cyberspace," Pompeo said ...

The secretary also called on other countries to help bring those indicted to justice.

The statement of the US Department of Justice clarifies that the citizens of the Russian Federation, who are allegedly officers of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff of Russia, attacked, among other things, the infrastructure facilities of the USA, Ukraine and Georgia, the elections in France and the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.

“GRU hackers and their accomplices have participated in computer hacks and attacks aimed at supporting the Russian government's efforts to subvert, retaliate, or destabilize: Ukraine, Georgia, the French elections, efforts to hold Russia accountable for the use of nervous a paralytic substance of a combat class "Novichok" on the territory of a foreign state, as well as the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, "the US department said in a statement.

As the US Deputy Attorney General for National Security John Demers said when the indictment was announced, “no country has used its cyber capabilities as a weapon as maliciously and irresponsibly as Russia, meaninglessly inflicting unprecedented damage to achieve minor tactical advantages and satisfy its attacks of anger ".

  • US Department of Justice

  • Reuters

  • © Andrew Kelly

The US Department of Justice also argues that it is about the use of "GRU hackers" during cyberattacks "of one of the most powerful and destructive malicious programs in the world today."

Moscow has already denied these charges.

Press Secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov told reporters that "Russia and the Russian special services have never undertaken any hacker attacks, especially against the Olympics."

“With regret we observe a tendency when Russia and Russian representatives, Russian special services are already accused of everything and everyone.

This is already reminiscent of the frequent recurrences of simply rabid Russophobia, which, of course, has nothing to do with reality, "said Dmitry Peskov.

The Russian Foreign Ministry also categorically denied the accusations of the American side, calling them speculation.

“As usual, no evidence has been presented.

The hackneyed theses about the "involvement" of our country in a wide range of destructive actions in the information space have been circulated, "said Maria Zakharova, spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry.

She also added that behind the statements of the American side "there are considerations of an opportunistic political nature, the desire of Russophobic forces in the United States to" keep afloat "the theme of the" Russian threat "in the midst of the presidential election campaign."

The Russian Embassy in Washington clarified that "such news stories are aimed only at warming up Russophobic sentiments in American society."

"The US authorities are consistently destroying the once-pragmatic Russian-American relations and artificially imposing on their population a toxic perception of Russia and everything connected with it," RIA Novosti quotes a statement from a diplomatic mission representative.

Spectrum of charges

It is worth noting that the United States regularly accuses Russia of hacker attacks.

And in these stories, the American side often makes the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the RF Armed Forces, which is better known by its former name, the Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU), the "character".

So, on February 20, 2020, the US State Department, as well as the Foreign Ministries of Georgia, Great Britain and Canada, accused Moscow, announcing a large-scale cyberattack by the Russian Federation, allegedly carried out on October 28, 2019 on Georgian websites, including the portals of the presidential administration countries, governments, courts and TV channels.

At the same time, the United States Secretary of State emphasized in his statement that the Main Directorate of the General Staff of Russia is "guilty" of what happened.

According to him, the Russian department allegedly "subjected Georgia to a large-scale cyberattack of a subversive nature."

The Russian Embassy in the United States then said that they were "disappointed, but not surprised by the next unsubstantiated accusations against Russia."

As noted in the diplomatic mission, Washington is increasingly resorting to "the methods of tabloid journalists" and is trying to present speculation as "the ultimate truth."

As stated in the Russian Foreign Ministry, "there is and cannot be any evidence of the involvement of Russian official structures in malicious activity in Georgia's electronic networks."

In August 2020, the US National Security Agency accused the GRU of allegedly creating Drovorub spyware that posed a threat to the telecommunications systems of the US security services and the Pentagon, also without providing evidence.

The topic of Russia's interference in the 2020 American elections through cyber attacks is also extremely popular in the United States.

In the United States, a number of politicians, both Democrats and Republicans, are confident that Moscow is allegedly interested in such actions.

In August alone, several representatives of the American political elite announced this at once.

Republican and acting head of the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Chad Wolfe said in an interview with Axios that "there is no doubt about the intelligence information" Moscow "tried to interfere" with the 2016 electoral process and allegedly "has continued to do so for the past four years".

Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, a Democrat, also spoke about Russia's "interference" in the elections.

According to her version, the Russian Federation allegedly "is again trying to support Donald Trump and help him to re-elect."

US Assistant to the President for National Security Robert O'Brien, in an interview with CBS, threatened Moscow with "serious consequences" if it tries to interfere in the 2020 American election process.

  • The White house

  • Reuters

  • © Leah Millis

In the same context, the director of the US National Center for Counterintelligence and Security, William Evanina, said that Russia was allegedly making attempts to "blacken" the Democratic Party's presidential candidate Joe Biden.

The Russian side has repeatedly denied such accusations.

As Dmitry Peskov stated at the end of July, Moscow "has never interfered in electoral processes in any country in the world," including the United States.

In addition, in early September, the FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) said they had not detected any cyberattacks on the electronic infrastructure of the US elections this year.

It is noted that "preliminary unverified statements" about outside influence on the vote should be viewed "with a healthy dose of skepticism."

"We need to fabricate stories"

As political analyst Alexander Asafov noted in an interview with RT, the US State Department and the US Department of Justice renewed their accusations against Russia and the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Federation, since "they need a justification for budget spending and for organizing additional services."

“For this, these departments need to have a threat against which they must fight.

And Russia and its foreign intelligence agency act in this role.

It is about these “threats” that American officials need to be periodically reminded and fabricated similar stories that do not correspond to reality, ”the expert stated.

In turn, Vladimir Bruter, an expert from the International Institute for Humanitarian and Political Research, said that the latest reports from the US State Department and the American Ministry of Justice indicate that "the work of the so-called fake apparatus does not stop."

“If the fakecomat stops its activity, then all other countries will understand that it is possible to communicate normally with Russia.

Therefore, these statements are intended to exert media pressure and deter other countries from establishing relations with the Russian Federation.

Such topics will continue to appear in the United States at regular intervals, "Bruter said in a conversation with RT.

According to him, in the US "for some reason they believe that they are not obliged to provide evidence to Russia."

Another reason why Washington often makes such accusations, according to Asafov, is "the formation of a bank of justifications for illegal actions and plans of the American side from the point of view of international legislation."

  • Reuters

  • © Kacper Pempel

“After all, the United States does not deny the possibility of a preemptive strike, including in cyberspace.

Moreover, it is the Americans who are engaged in the militarization of this sphere, ”the analyst said.

According to Asafov, the next goal of all these accusations of Russia of interference and cyberattacks is "to create claims to the results of the presidential elections in 2020, if they do not suit Trump and Pompeo."

“This requires certain predetermined“ threats ”that can allegedly affect the electoral process.

And Russian hackers are best suited for this.

Again, unsubstantiated after the elections, they will say that Russian hackers, by posting propaganda materials, various memes on social networks, tried to influence or influenced the voting results, so now they must be challenged, ”the expert concluded.