WASHINGTON – US Special Counsel Robert Mueller on Friday announced theindictments of 13 Russian nationals and three companies for allegedinterference with the 2016 election.

According to the unsealed indictment, the accused conspired — from 2014until today — to interfere “with the US political and electoral processes,including the presidential election of 2016”.

Mueller alleges that the group posed as Americans and controlled socialmedia accounts that focused on divisive social and political issues.

Under the management of Yevgeny Prigozhin, a close ally of Vladimir Putin,the group reached “significant numbers” of Americans, according to theindictment.

They had a “strategic goal to sow discord in the US political system” andby mid-2016 were supporting Donald Trump’s campaign and disparaging HillaryClinton.

The group was based in Putin’s home town of Saint Petersburg, but some ofthe accused travelled to the United States.

Stops included Nevada, California, New Mexico, Colorado, Illinois,Michigan, Louisiana, Texas, Georgia and New York.

An unnamed Texas-based American political operative is said to haveinstructed them to focus on so-called “purple states” which swing betweenRepublican and Democratic control.

“Hundreds” of people were said to have been involved in the operation,working in shifts and with a budget of millions of dollars. They allegedlytargeted social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram.

Two of the firms are said to have Russian government contracts.

The Russian foreign ministry dismissed the indictments of its citizens bythe US as “absurd”.

“Thirteen people carried out interference in the US elections? Thirteenagainst the billion-dollar budgets of the special forces? Against theespionage and counter-espionage, against the newest developments andtechnologies?”, foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova wrote onFacebook.

“Absurd? Yes. But this is the modern American political reality,” sheadded, in the first official reaction from Moscow.

The businessman who tops the list of those indicted, Yevgeny Prigozhin,also made light of the indictments in comments to RIA Novosti state newsagency.

“Americans are very impressionable people. They see what they want to see.I have great respect for them. I am not at all upset that I am in thislist. If they want to see a devil, let them,” he said.

Prigozhin is nicknamed Putin’s “chef” by Russian media and runs a companythat has catered for Kremlin receptions. He has been photographed with thestrongman and his company Konkord is subject to US sanctions.

He has been linked by Russian media to a “troll factory” in SaintPetersburg working to spread pro-Kremlin propaganda online. He has deniedmeddling in US politics.