U.S. vows to Introduce legislation on 'Russian hackers'

Top GOP Leader in the U.S. House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy accused Russia of "malicious actions" aimed at "weakening our pandemic response", announcing that he will introduce legislation "to ensure these Russian hackers are held accountable".

McCarthy was referring to recent allegations voiced by the UK National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and supported by the US and Canada claiming that Moscow is trying to hijack coronavirus vaccine research.

"Moscow's continued malicious actions to weaken our pandemic response must not go unchecked. In the coming days, I will be introducing legislation to ensure these Russian hackers are held accountable", McCarthy tweeted.

​Backed by no credible evidence, the accusations were rolled out on Thursday, with the NCSC claiming that a hacker group called APT29, also known as 'the Dukes' and 'Cozy Bear', were behind attempts to hack health institutions in the UK, US and Canada "with the intention of stealing information and intellectual property relating to the development and testing of COVID-19 vaccines".

Russia dismissed the allegations, slamming them as "unacceptable," Sputnik reported.