U.S. charges Russian intelligence officers for massive cyberattacks beginning in 2015
19 October 2020
A federal grand jury has returned a 7-count indictment against six Russian military intelligence officers for major hacking operations targeting foreign elections, the Olympics and computer systems worldwide that resulted in nearly $1 billion in losses, the Justice Department announced Monday.
The big picture: The officers are members of the same GRU unit indicted by special counsel Robert Mueller for interference in the 2016 election.
Details: The indictment accuses the hackers of ...
- Unleashing destructive malware attacks on Ukraine's power grid in 2015 through 2016
- Engaging in hack-and-leak efforts targeting the 2017 French elections
- Infecting computers around the world with destructive malware called NotPetya in 2017
- Targeting the PyeongChang Winter Olympics after Russian athletes were banned from participating under their country's flag in 2017 and 2018
- Attempting to disrupt chemical weapons investigations into the poisoning of former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal on U.K. soil in 2018
- Targeting Georgian companies and government entities in 2018 and 2019
This is a breaking story. Check back for more updates.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.