Russian President Vladmir Putin has denied that Russia has had any involvement with hacking.
Speaking at a meeting with senior editors of leading global news agencies on Thursday, Putin said that some individual "patriotic" hackers could mount attacks amid the current cold spell in Russia’s relations with the West.
But he categorically insisted that "we don’t engage in that at the state level."
He also said that "no hackers can influence election campaigns in any country of Europe, Asia or America."
U.S. intelligence agencies have accused Russia of hacking into Democratic Party emails and helping President Donald Trump’s election victory.
Hacking allegations
Vladmir Putin was also interviewed by French newspaper Le Figaro during a recent visit to France, where he was asked about Russian state involvement in hacking.
During the interview he spoke about the allegations saying: "Who is making these allegations? Based on what? If these are just allegations, then these hackers could be from anywhere else and not necessarily from Russia.
Putin said that they never engage in hacking activities "Anything is possible in this virtual world. Russia never engages in activities of this kind, and we do not need it. It makes no sense for us to do such things.
