This comes as the Trump administration accuses Russia of trying to penetrate the United States Energy Grid. So much for that whole, “Trump is Putin’s president” thing. 

From USA Today:  

“The Trump administration on Thursday sanctioned a number of Russian entities for a wide range of behavior that U.S. officials say has sought to disrupt Western governments — including the attempts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. Among the five entities sanctioned by the Treasury Department Thursday is the Internet Research Agency, which was indicted by a grand jury last month as part of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into possible Trump campaign collusion with Russian efforts. Officials say it’s a propaganda outfit that used fake identities to pose as Americans on social media, in order to sew divisiveness during the campaign.

. . .

Also cited in the sanctions: the NotPetya cyber-attack, which affected hospitals and disrupted shipping and was been attributed to the Russian military in February. The sanctions freeze any assets of the Russian agents held in U.S. dollars, and block U.S. citizens from engaging in business with them. 

It’s the first round of sanctions announced by the United States since Congress passed a Russia sanctions bill last year — a bill President Trump signed only reluctantly in the face of a veto-proof congressional majority. Officials said the sanctions had been in the works for weeks, but the timing comes just as the United States condemned Russia for its use of nerve agent to poison a double agent in the United Kingdom, signing on to a joint statement as a sign of solidarity with European allies.”