With major elections coming up in France, Germany, the Netherlands and possibly Italy, Europe is preparing for a campaign of cyber attacks and misinformation similar to that seen in the recent U.S. election. On December 29, President Barack Obama sanctioned the GRU and FSB, leading Russian intelligence agencies the U.S. said were involved in cyber-attacks during the U.S. presidential election campaign. The White House ordered the closure of two Russian compounds in Maryland and New York it said were used for spying and declared persona non grata 35 Russian intelligence officers. Russia called the penalties a clumsy yet aggressive attempt to "harm Russian-American ties."
