Twelve Russian military intelligence officers were indicted by the U.S. special counsel on Friday of conspiring to interfere in the 2016 presidential elections.
Special Counsel Robert Mueller and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein announced the indictment by a grand jury in Washington, D.C.
Eleven of the defendants were charged with conspiring to hack computers, steal documents and release them in an effort to influence the election.
The twelfth was charged with "conspiring to infiltrate computers of organizations responsible for administering elections, including state boards of election, secretaries of state, and companies that supply software and other technology used to administer elections," Rosenstein said.
The Russians worked for two units of GRU, Russia's military intelligence agency, according to the indictment.
The charges comes ahead of a July 16 meeting between U.S. president Donald Trump and Russian president Vladimir Putin in Helsinki. Rosenstein said he briefed Trump on the allegations against the Russian operatives earlier this week.
"The president is fully aware of today's actions by the Department," Rosenstein told a press conference.
In February, the special counsel announced charges against a Russian social media troll company, 12 of its employees, and its financial backer.