(Bloomberg) — The U.S. charged six current and former members of Russia’s military intelligence agency for allegedly carrying out some of the world’s most destructive hacking attacks from 2015 to 2019, including knocking out Ukraine’s power grid and causing almost $1 billion in damage to three American companies.The hackers allegedly carried out attacks against the 2017 elections in France and the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympic Games, according to an indictment unsealed by the Justice Department on Monday.“According to the indictment, beginning in or around November 2015 and continuing until at least in or around October 2019, the defendants and their co-conspirators deployed destructive malware and took other disruptive actions, for the strategic benefit of Russia, through unauthorized access to victim computers,” the department said.Read the grand jury indictment unsealed on MondayThe hackers from the military intelligence unit known as GRU allegedly spread what is known as NotPetya malware, which damaged computers used for critical infrastructure, including impairing the administration of medical services by a hospital system in Pennsylvania.“The attack caused the unavailability of patient lists, patient history, physical examination files and laboratory records,” according to the department.The NotPetya attack also caused about $400 million in damages to a subsidiary of FedEx Corp. and more than $500 million in damages to a large U.S. pharmaceutical manufacturer, which the indictment didn’t identify. Merck & Co. has been previously identified as one of the targets.None of the charges involved the current U.S. presidential campaign, although the FBI and other agencies say Russia continues trying to interfere in U.S. politics.“No country has weaponized its cyber capabilities as maliciously or irresponsibly as Russia, wantonly causing unprecedented damage to pursue small tactical advantages and fits of spite,” John Demers, head of the department’s national security division, told reporters during a news conference on Monday.Demers said the release of the indictment wasn’t particularly intended to send a message to Russia against interfering in the 2020 election. He said U.S. agencies haven’t seen evidence that hackers can compromise voting in this year’s election.“Americans should be confident that a vote cast for their candidate will be counted for that candidate,“ Demers said.The Justice Department also said the investigation was aided by social media companies Facebook Inc. and Twitter Inc., as well as Alphabet Inc.’s Google and Cisco Systems Inc.‘Voodoo Bear’The hackers are part of a group known variously as “Sandworm Team” and “Voodoo Bear” among cybersecurity experts. The group’s espionage and sabotage hacking operations are “highly advanced” and consistent with “Russian economic and national objectives,” according to an analysis by the firm Crowdstrike Inc. The group has an interest in “targeting critical systems” and disrupting infrastructure, according to an analysis by the firm FireEye Inc.The timing of the indictment, weeks before the U.S. presidential election, is notable. A separate hacking unit that is associated with Russia’s GRU meddled in the 2016 U.S. election, and Microsoft Corp. recently found that group attempting to hack political targets ahead of the 2020 election.In addition, one of the defendants in the indictment unsealed on Monday was also charged in 2018 by the U.S. for hacking tied to the 2016 election. He conspired “to gain unauthorized access into the computers of U.S. persons and entities involved in the administration of the 2016 U.S. elections,” according to the Justice Department.The U.S. intelligence community has assessed that Russia is attempting to help President Donald Trump succeed and hurt his rival, former Vice President Joe Biden. The U.S. also indicted hackers from GRU in October 2018, before the midterm elections. Russia denies any role.The U.K.’s Foreign Office said Monday that the GRU had conducted “cyber reconnaissance against officials and organizations” involved in the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games that were to take place in Tokyo over the summer. The games were postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic. The Foreign Office added that the GRU tried to make it look like its attacks on the 2018 Winter Games in South Korea was the work of North Korean and Chinese operatives. “The GRU’s actions against the Olympic and Paralympic Games are cynical and reckless. We condemn them in the strongest possible terms,” Foreign Minister Dominic Raab said. “The U.K. will continue to work with our allies to call out and counter future malicious cyber attacks.”(Updates with U.K. Foreign Office and Raab statements, in final two paragraphs.)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

FedEx Express, a subsidiary of FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) recently announced it is opening a $12.3 million distribution center in León, a city in the central Mexican state of Guanajuato.The new 193,750-square-foot facility is aimed at strategically expanding FedEx Express' presence in the Bajío region of west north-central Mexico for small and midsize enterprises (SMEs), said company spokeswoman Tatiana Gutierrez.Gutierrez added the new facility will also “strengthen our global infrastructure as a response to our domestic and international customers' needs.””With the addition of this new facility, we are expanding our value proposition in Mexico,” Gutierrez said. “Currently, FedEx Express operates more than 2,500 vehicles, 2,000 points of sale, with more than 8,000 employees. Combining our assets and making them available to SMEs will help them develop new businesses in our territory and the international field.”The distribution center, which is scheduled to open in early 2021, will generate 150 new jobs. It will also include a new FedEx Express retail point, as well as additional investments in the Salamanca/Celaya parcel corridor. Gutierrez said the site in León, Guanajuato, was chosen because of the “alignment and infrastructure created by the Center-Bajío-Occidente Alliance.”The alliance was formed by governors of the Mexican states of Guanajuato, Queretaro, Aguascalientes, Jalisco and San Luis Potosi to push for infrastructure projects and foreign direct investment that would benefit all Bajío states.”The Center-Bajío-Occidente Alliance has positioned the region as one of the most important geographical points of innovation and growth for the logistics sector in the country,” Gutierrez said.Gutierrez said FedEx Express' new León facility in Guanajuato will enable “efficient” transportation to 72 routes north of the city to Silao, Salamanca, La Piedad and Irapuato.”It will also connect the main industrial parks with the highest international traffic volume, such as Puerto Interior and Castro del Río,” Gutierrez said. “FedEx Express is investing in the Bajio region because we are confident that there are growth opportunities in Guanajuato and its vicinity.”FedEx currently has hubs and monitored bonded warehouses in Toluca, Guadalajara and Monterrey, Mexico.Across Latin America and the Caribbean, FedEx has 48 distribution centers, 14 air cargo terminals, 13 warehouses, 12 ground hubs and one macro logistics center.FedEx operates an aircraft fleet of six planes across Latin America, including an Airbus 310 from Monterrey. The company also has a ground fleet of 1,243 vehicles and employs more than 5,000 people across Latin America. Click for more FreightWaves articles by Noi Mahoney.More articles by Noi Mahoneybillion Mexico-Canada rail link proposedCFI expands Mexico trucking servicesSoup company says Mexican supplier broke contractSee more from Benzinga * Options Trades For This Crazy Market: Get Benzinga Options to Follow High-Conviction Trade Ideas * Navistar Tells TRATON It Will Accept Buyout At .50 A Share * Kansas City Southern's Q3 Net Profit Grows 5% Despite Lower Revenue(C) 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

Retailers looking to ship their goods this holiday season could face challenges finding transport. FedEx (NYSE: FDX) and United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS) have told some of their largest customers that their holiday capacity is already spoken for, according to a Wall Street Journal report on Monday. FedEx told investors last month it expects “a peak like no other” this holiday season.

Moody’s Investors Service, (“Moody’s”) has affirmed the ratings on eight classes in CD 2016-CD2 Mortgage Trust, Commercial Mortgage Pass-Through Certificates, Series 2016-CD2. The ratings on six principal and interest (P&I) were affirmed because the transaction’s key metrics, including Moody’s loan-to-value (LTV) ratio, Moody’s stressed debt service coverage ratio (DSCR) and the transaction’s Herfindahl Index (Herf), are within acceptable ranges.