US cyber attack claims aimed at Russiophobia: Moscow

Russia has dismissed the US accusations of attempting to interfere in the 2016 elections, stressing that such baseless claims are just aimed at fanning "unprecedented anti-Russian hysteria.”

Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov made the criticism in a statement posted on the ministry's website on Saturday.

"This whipping up of emotions regarding 'Russian hackers' is used in the US election campaign, and the current US administration, taking part in this fight, is not averse [to] using dirty tricks," he said.


On Friday, the Office of the US Director of National Intelligence and the Department of Homeland Security released a joint statement, formally accusing Moscow of hacking the computers of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and other political organizations.

“The US Intelligence Community is confident that the Russian Government directed the recent compromises of e-mails from US persons and institutions,” read the statement, adding, “These thefts and disclosures are intended to interfere with the US election process.”

Back in July, a cache of more than 19,000 emails from Democratic party officials, leaked in advance of Hillary Clinton’s nomination in Philadelphia, showed that the DNC was favoring her over her competitor for the party nomination, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont.

The leaks forced Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida to resign as the DNC chairwoman.

US claims 'rubbish'

Also on Friday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denounced the US hacking allegations as "rubbish," noting that Russian President Vladimir Putin's website is attacked everyday by several tens of thousands of hackers.

“A lot of these attacks are traced to the territory of the USA, but we do not blame the White House or Langley each time,” he told Russia’s Interfax news agency.

The US 2016 presidential election will be held on November 8, with over a hundred million Americans expected to go to the polls.