Lame Duck: The United States as we mentioned last night, deported 35 supposedly Russian spies in response to Russia's supposed intervention in last month's presidential election, causing further escalation in tensions between the two countries.
The US State Department said 35 Russian intelligence officials from the Russian embassy in Washington DC and the San Francisco consulate had been declared "persona non grata" and had been given 72 hours to leave the country and their families.
Ο Πρόεδρος Barack Obama also announced the closure of two Russian compounds, in New York and Maryland, that were used by Russian officials to collection information.
"I announced sanctions against nine entities and individuals: GRU and FSB, two Russian intelligence services, four individual GRU officers, and three companies that provided material support in GRU cyber operations," President Barack Obama said in his announcement.
Obama accused Russia of "aggressive harassment," saying that "all Americans should be alarmed by Russia's actions." He believes that hacking “could only be organized by the highest levels of the Russian governments.” Of course, as we mentioned yesterday, there is still no proof, or if there is, it has not been announced.
The move came as a retaliation for the hacking that took place during the election last month on the logistics of the Democratic Party and the Hillary Clinton campaign.
Of course, Russia denies any involvement and called the Obama administration's allegations "unfounded," saying it was unhappy with the last days of the Obama administration.
So immediately after Obama's announcements on Thursday, the Russian embassy in London, published a photo with a duck that spells out the word “Lame.”
President Obama expelled 35 🇷🇺 diplomats in Cold War already vu. As everybody, incl 🇺🇸 people, will be glad to see the last of this hapless Adm. pic.twitter.com/mleqA16H8D
- Russian Embassy, UK (@RussianEmbassy) December 29, 2016
The photo was published with an obvious reference to Obama, who is nearing the end of his term in the White House as a "lame duck" after almost eight years as President of the United States.
