U.S. slaps sanctions on Putin cronies for Russia's 'malign activity'

By Lesley Wroughton and Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States imposed major sanctions on Friday against 24 Russians, striking at allies of President Vladimir Putin in one of Washington's most aggressive moves to punish Moscow for its alleged meddling in the 2016 U.S. election and other "malign activity." The action, taken under pressure from the U.S. Congress, freezes the U.S. assets of oligarchs such as aluminum tycoon Oleg Deripaska, a close associate of Putin, and lawmaker Suleiman Kerimov, whose family controls Russia's largest gold producer, Polyus. The sanctions largely respond to what U.S. intelligence agencies have said was Russian interference in the presidential election, although the Treasury Department painted them as a response to a series of adversarial actions by Moscow.