In a latest development that further strains the already anything but cordial relationship between White House and the Kremlin, the US has expelled 35 Russian diplomats as punishment for alleged interference in last month's presidential elections, giving them 72 hours to leave the country.
It will also shut-down two premises used for Russian intelligence-gathering. President Barack Obama had vowed to punish Russia on grounds of accusations from US Intelligence which alleged it directed hacks against the Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton's campaign.
The Russian government has denied any involvement in the 2016 US election and called the decision "ungrounded". The US state department declared the 35 Russian diplomats from the Washington DC embassy and the consulate in San Francisco "persona non-grata", and have instructed them and their families to leave the US within 72 hours.
The decision follows pressures from senior US senators to sanction Russian officials who are believed to have been instrumental in the hacking, which is referred to by some lawmakers as America's "political Pearl Harbor".
Republican senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham, who led the calls for sanctions, said they "intend to lead the effort in the new Congress to impose stronger sanctions on Russia".
A Kremlin spokesman told journalists in Moscow that President Vladimir Putin would consider retaliatory measures. Dmitry Peskov said the actions were "a manifestation of unpredictable and aggressive foreign policy", and called them "ungrounded and not legal". In addition, the Russian embassy in the UK tweeted a visual gag calling the Obama presidency a lame duck.
President-elect Donald Trump, who will take over from President Obama next month, has dismissed the hacking claims as "ridiculous" and said Americans should "get on with our lives" when asked about the possibility of sanctions before the announcement on Wednesday.
Sanctions have also been announced against nine institutions and individuals including Russian intelligence agencies, the GRU as well as the FSB. Russian intelligence buildings in New York and Maryland will also be closed.
In a disclosure from the Whitehouse, President Obama called the moves a "necessary and appropriate response to efforts to harm US interests" and said "all Americans should be alarmed by Russia's actions".
Mr. Obama further announced the decision of the US to declassify technical information related to Russian cyber activity to "help network defenders in the United States and abroad identify, detect, and disrupt Russia's global campaign of malicious cyber activities".
In a statement, Speaker of the Republican - led House and the GOP’s top guy in US Congress, Paul Ryan, said that despite the measures being overdue "it is an appropriate way to end eight years of failed policy with Russia".
Democratic Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland has also called for Congress to take action separately from the White House, and plans to introduce legislation aimed at establishing a committee "to further examine the attack and Russian's efforts to interfere in our election".
In a joint statement by the Department of Homeland Security, the Office of the Director of National Security, and the FBI, US officials have appealed to companies to "look back within their network traffic" and report any signs of "malicious cyber activity" to law enforcement.
The Russian hacking, which the US intelligence agencies describe as a "decade-long campaign" included methods such as "spearphishing, campaigns targeting government organizations, critical infrastructure, think-tanks, universities, political organizations, and corporations; theft of information from these organizations; and the recent public release of some of this stolen information".
Hacked emails from Hillary Clinton's campaign manager and from the Democratic National Committee’s servers were released during the 2016 presidential election by WikiLeaks.
Several US agencies such as the FBI and CIA have concluded that the hacked information was released to bring disrepute to Mrs. Clinton and the Democrats in order and provide Mr. Trump undue advantage at the polls.
Â
Â