Russia says it will give ‘appropriate response’ to latest UK, EU cyber sanctions

Russia said Monday it would give an “appropriate response” to the latest sanctions imposed by the UK and the EU over alleged Russian cyber and hybrid operations across Europe.

“Moscow will give an appropriate response,” the Russian Foreign Ministry told state news agency RIA, in response to a question about the expansion of sanctions by London and Brussels.

Earlier in the day, the UK Foreign Office announced new sanctions imposed jointly with the EU, saying they target the Russian state’s “persistent and increasingly reckless attempts to sow chaos and division across Europe.”

“The Russian state and its criminal networks responsible for orchestrating cyber-attacks, interfering in elections and spreading malicious anti-Ukraine narratives across Europe have today been sanctioned by the UK,” the statement said.

It said the latest sanctions target 24 individuals and entities behind “destructive cyber and hybrid operations, including cybercriminals involved in proxy networks,” which London claimed are linked to Russian intelligence.

“Together with our partners, Britain will continue to call out this behaviour, bolster our resilience and respond to the hybrid threat posed by the Russian state. This will not deter us from supporting Ukraine,” UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper was quoted as saying.