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Up to 13 Russian nat'ls indicted for meddling in '16 US elections

WASHINGTON, Feb 16 (KUNA) -- Up to 13 Russians have been indicted by US Special Counsel Robert Muller for meddling in the 2016 US presidential elections, it was reported Friday.
According to media reports, 13 Russian nationals and three Russian entities are accused of "violating US laws to interfere with US elections and political processes." It was indicated that the indictment charges all the defendants "with conspiracy to defraud the United States, three defendants with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud, and five defendants with aggravated identity theft." The Mueller indictment noted that "Russian Internet Research Agency employed hundreds of individuals for its online operations, and its annual budget totaled millions of dollars with strategy that included "spreading distrust towards the candidates and the political system in general." The indictment also charges that "some of the suspects traveled to the United States to gather information to help in the scheme, and that they also impersonated Americans online in order to try to sway voters' opinions." (end) si.bs