On October 4, 2018, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that a federal grand jury in Pennsylvania had indicted seven officers of Russia’s military intelligence service, the GRU. Prosecutors alleged that they carried out computer intrusions and related influence operations; an indictment is an accusation, not a finding of guilt.
What the indictment alleged
The indictment, announced by DOJ on October 4, 2018, described an alleged conspiracy running from around December 2014 through at least May 2018. Prosecutors said the defendants sought to steal information and publicize selected material as part of an influence and disinformation campaign. The allegations and charges are set out in the DOJ announcement.
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The seven men named by DOJ were Aleksei Sergeyevich Morenets, Evgenii Mikhaylovich Serebriakov, Ivan Sergeyevich Yermakov, Artem Andreyevich Malyshev, Dmitriy Sergeyevich Badin, Oleg Mikhaylovich Sotnikov, and Alexey Valerevich Minin. DOJ said five were assigned to Military Unit 26165 and identified the other two as GRU officers.
Who prosecutors said was targeted
DOJ described alleged intrusions against organizations and individuals in several areas:
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- Anti-doping and sport: Anti-doping officials and organizations, sporting bodies, and athletes. DOJ said stolen material included credentials, medical records, and therapeutic-use-exemption information. It also said the broader WADA ADAMS database was not compromised in the intrusion it described.
- Commercial: Westinghouse Electric Company.
- Chemical-weapons investigations: The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and Switzerland’s Spiez laboratory.
These are targets DOJ attributed to the alleged operation; they should not be read as independently adjudicated findings.
How the operation allegedly worked
According to the DOJ account, the alleged activity combined remote attempts to obtain access with operations conducted near targeted facilities:
- Remote attacks: Spearphishing and other credential-theft techniques were allegedly used to gain access to accounts and systems.
- Close-access Wi-Fi operations: DOJ said teams traveled abroad and used nearby wireless access to carry out intrusions.
- Public release and amplification: Prosecutors said selected stolen information was published under the name “Fancy Bears’ Hack Team.” DOJ reported that releases included private or medical information about approximately 250 athletes from almost 30 countries, and that conspirators contacted approximately 186 reporters through Twitter and email in an apparent effort to amplify the releases. These are figures reported by DOJ in its 2018 announcement.
What charges DOJ announced
The indictment included charges related to computer hacking, wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and money laundering. DOJ framed these as criminal accusations tied to the alleged hacking and influence activity, not as proof that the defendants committed the offenses.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What is—and is not—established by the announcement
The DOJ release records what prosecutors announced and alleged in 2018. It does not by itself establish guilt or resolve the later status of the case. The department stated: “The charges contained in this indictment are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.” This article does not assert a later court outcome.
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At the time, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said, “State-sponsored hacking and disinformation campaigns pose serious threats to our security and to our open society, but the Department of Justice is defending against them,” as quoted in the October 4, 2018 DOJ release.
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