Putin suggests 'patriotically minded' Russians may have played a hand in U.S. election meddling

Vladimir Putin.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Russian President Vladimir Putin admitted Thursday that some Russians may have in fact interfered with the U.S. presidential election last year, as American intelligence officials have charged. While Putin maintained that Russia was "not doing this on the state level," he suggested some "patriotically minded" Russians could have decided to make America their target.

"If they are patriotically minded, they start making their contributions — which are right, from their point of view — to the fight against those who say bad things about Russia," Putin said. He described the hackers as "artists" who decide their next target based on how they feel "when they wake up in the morning."

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