In a story that begs the question, “What year is this?” the Obama Administration has penalized Russia over allegations that it tried to tamper with the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

President Obama in his last days in office has decided to punish Russia by expelling 35 diplomats and ordering the closure of offices in New York and Maryland which, according to The New York Times, were used for Russian intelligence activities.

In a statement, the White House alleged that Russian hacking was intended to influence the election, erode faith in U.S. democratic institutions, sow doubt about the integrity of our electoral process and undermine confidence in the institutions of the U.S. government. Wikileaks, which published the emails, has vehemently denied many times that the emails were obtained via the Russian government.

The Obama administration’s actions are an apparent de-escalation from previous intimations that the U.S. might be considering hacking Russia’s critical infrastructure in “revenge” back in November. Russia has not apparently responded in kind, except for its U.K. embassy publishing a tweet that included the words “lame” over the picture of a duck (above).

Image credit: Russian Embassy United Kingdom