Yermak says those involved in meddling in U.S. elections will be prosecuted

14.01.2021 10:06

Ukrinform

The Ukrainian government will do everything in its power to bring those involved in meddling in the U.S. elections to account, Head of the Ukrainian President's Office Andriy Yermak has said.

"For the sake of clarity - regardless of party affiliation, this administration will do everything in its power to hold those responsible for meddling in US elections," Yermak wrote on Twitter.

The President's Office soon reaffirmed its intention to prosecute those involved in meddling in the U.S. elections. "Concrete steps will be announced in the near future," the President's Office said.

On January 11, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) took additional action against seven individuals and four entities that are part of a "Russia-linked foreign influence network" associated with Andrii Derkach.

U.S. sanctions have been imposed on former Ukrainian government officials Kostiantyn Kulyk, Oleksandr Onyshchenko, Andriy Telizhenko, and current Ukrainian MP Oleksandr Dubinsky, who released the so-called "Derkach's tapes."

In addition, the "blacklist" includes members of Derkach's team - Petro Zhuravel, Dmytro Kovalchuk and Anton Symonenko. Restrictions have also been imposed against NabuLeaks, Era-Media TOV, Only News and Skeptik TOV.

In May 2020, MP Andrii Derkach released audio recordings that may indicate the alleged influence of former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden on former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. The recordings date back to 2015-2016. According to Derkach, he received the "tapes" from investigative journalists, and Poroshenko personally recorded the conversations.

On September 10, 2020, the U.S. Department of the Treasury designated four Russia-linked individuals, including Derkach, for attempting to influence the U.S. electoral process.