ABC's Andy Field - April 15, 2021 - KRDO's Afternoon News

The Biden administration announced today the expulsion of 10 Russian diplomats and sanctions against dozens of people and companies as it moved to hold the Kremlin accountable for interference in last year's presidential election and the hacking of federal agencies. The sanctions also target Moscow's ability to borrow money by prohibiting U.S. financial institutions from buying Russian bonds directly from Russian institutions.  The actions were not a surprise since they've been hinted at for weeks.  They represent the first retaliatory measures announced against the Kremlin for the hack, familiarly known as the SolarWinds breach. In that intrusion, Russian hackers are believed to have infected widely used software with malicious code, enabling them to access the networks of at least nine agencies in what U.S. officials believe was an intelligence-gathering operation aimed at mining government secrets.  Other measures are expected as well, though the administration is not likely to announce them. Officials have been advising that their response to Russia would be in ways both seen and unseen. The White House also said Biden was using diplomatic, military and intelligence channels to respond to reports that Russia encouraged the Taliban to attack U.S. and allied troops in Afghanistan based on the "best assessments" of the intelligence community