The Russian Prime Minister, Dmitry Medvedev said “RIP” to the outgoing US administration of Barack Obama on Twitter on Friday, after the White House decided to expel 35 Russian diplomats.
“It is regrettable that the Obama administration, which started out by restoring our ties, is ending its term in an anti-Russia agony. RIP,” Medvedev said on Twitter in English.
It is regrettable that the Obama administration, which started out by restoring our ties, is ending its term in an anti-Russia agony. RIP
— Dmitry Medvedev (@MedvedevRussiaE) December 30, 2016
Obama announced on Thursday that he had passed executive actions to impose sanctions on Russia’s cyber intelligence community, including several companies, and expel 35 Russian diplomats.
The measures were in response to hacking of Democratic Party emails that exposed favouritism toward Hillary Clinton over rival Bernie Sanders.
The exposé, which the US leadership believes was perpetrated with support from the Russian government, was a boon to Republican candidate Donald Trump, who went on to win the election.
The vice speaker of Russia’s lower house of parliament, Irina Yarovaya, said Friday that the US sanctions against Russia were Obama’s “revenge on voters” who elected Trump.
Americans showed in the recent presidential election that they have “discarded such aggressive and Russophobic policies,” Yarovaya said in comments carried by state news agency TASS.
Trump, who has previously praised Russian President Vladimir Putin and vowed to seek better relations with the country, could theoretically reverse Obama’s executive actions when he enters office on January 20.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denounced Obama’s actions as “groundless and illegal from the point of view of international law,” according to comments carried by TASS.
Peskov said that Russia was ready to conduct a response to cause “significant discomfort to the US,” TASS reported.
![Rev. Fr. Anthony Odiong, a US-based Nigerian Louisiana Catholic priest, was arrested in Florida on Tuesday for possessing child pornography, according to law authorities. The suspect is reportedly accused of many other cases of sexual assault. The Waco, Texas, Police Department announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday that officers detained Father Anthony Odiong in Ave Maria, Florida, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service. Waco police announced in March that they had received "credible information" about a sexual assault allegedly committed by Odiong in Texas in 2012. “During the subsequent investigation, a case of possession of child pornography was uncovered,” the police said. The priest was apprehended in Florida by the Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force. The Waco Police Department said that he will be extradited to Texas. Odiong had previously served in the Archdiocese of New Orleans before being removed as priest in December of last year due to controversy over homilies in which he claimed, among other things, that the Catholic Church was being taken over by "the gays." At the time, the priest was also accused of abusive behaviour; a Louisiana lady claimed in U.S. bankruptcy court that Odiong had committed both financial and sexual abuse against her. Prior to joining the New Orleans Archdiocese, Odiong served in at least two Texas parishes. On Tuesday, Waco police stated that during their sexual assault investigation, "the presence of other survivors was revealed." “Multiple women have come forward to tell similar experiences as the sexual assault survivor who reported the initial allegation,” the police department said. “Survivors’ experiences ranged from sexual assault and indecent assault, more commonly recognised as groping, and financial abuse, with some survivors experiencing every element of Anthony Odiong’s manipulation.” The police said they “believe there may be more survivors, and we wish to speak with anyone who [has] had similar encounters” with the priest. The Archdiocese of New Orleans issued a brief news release on Tuesday noting Odiong's arrest in Florida. The archdiocese “encourages anyone with any information to contact law enforcement,” the release said.](https://chronicle.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ezgif-6-4730550ede-450x300.jpg "Odiong: US-based Nigerian Catholic priest convicted over sexual assault")