Russia denies reports of hacking Qatar’s state news agency

MOSCOW – Russian officials on Wednesday denied allegations that Russian hackers breached Qatar’s state news agency and planted a fake news story that led to a split between Qatar and the other Arab nations.

Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Egypt and Yemen cut diplomatic ties with the tiny Gulf state, accusing Qatar of harboring extremists and backing Saudi Arabia’s regional rival, Iran. Qatar has denied the allegations.

The Russian president’s special envoy for cybersecurity told the Interfax news agency on Wednesday that Tuesday’s CNN report contains “zero evidence” that the Russian government was behind the news story.

Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for President Vladimir Putin, on Wednesday dismissed the report as “yet another lie.”

Separately, Vladimir Dzhabarov, deputy chairman of the foreign affairs committee at the upper chamber of parliament, on Wednesday dismissed the accusations as “an attempt to push the U.S. against Russia as key players in the Middle East.”

Dzhabarov said the report shows that “the world has gone crazy – whatever happens, there is a Russian trace there, the trace of Russian hackers.”

Vladimir Putin on Tuesday spoke by telephone with the ruler of Qatar, urging dialogue to heal split between the Gulf state and other Arab countries.