US grand jury indicts 13 Russian nationals for election interference

The indictment, brought by the office of special counsel Robert Mueller, represents the most direct allegation to date of illegal Russian meddling during the election.

It says Russians created bogus Internet postings, posed online as American political activists and fraudulently purchased advertisements, all with the goal of swaying political opinion during the bitterly contested race.

The intent of the meddling, the indictment says, was to "sow discord in the US political system, including the 2016 presidential election."

The indictment arises from Muellers investigation into Russian interference in the election and whether there was improper coordination between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin.

The charges are similar to the assessment of the US intelligence community, which months after the election described a Russian government effort to meddle in the election on Trumps behalf.

The Russians "strategic goal" was to sow discord, the indictment says. By early-to-mid 2016, their efforts "included" supporting Trumps campaign and disparaging Democrat Clinton. The charges say that Russians also communicated with "unwitting individuals" associated with the Trump campaign and other political activists to coordinate activities.

Trump himself has been reluctant to acknowledge the meddling. His spokeswoman, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, said Friday that Trump had been briefed on the indictment but there was no other immediate comment.

The charges are the latest allegations arising from Muellers probe and represent the first criminal case against Russians. Before Friday, four people, including Trumps former national security adviser and former campaign chairman, had been charged.

According to the indictment, the Internet Research Agency, a Russian troll farm, started interfering as early as 2014 in US politics, extending to the 2016 presidential election.

The defendants, "posing as US persons and creating false US personas," operated social media groups designed to attract US audiences by stealing US identities and falsely claiming to be US activists.