“It was the strongest action to date against Russia by the administration, which has long been accused of being too soft on the Kremlin, and the first punishments for election meddling since President Donald Trump took office. The sanctions list included the 13 Russians indicted last month by special counsel Robert Mueller, whose Russia investigation the president has repeatedly sought to discredit.” AP: US says Russia hacked energy grid, punishes 19 for meddling.

+ “An extraordinary joint statement signed by the leaders of the U.K., the U.S., France, and Germany has blamed Russia for the attempted murder of former spy Sergei Skripal on British soil.”

+ Who is Sregei Skripal and what’s this all about? Rachel Maddow has a good explainer.

+ Meanwhile, there’s this from the NYT: Mueller Subpoenas Trump Organization, Demanding Documents About Russia. So, on the same day we learned that the Trump administration has confirmed Mueller’s findings by sanctioning the hackers he named, we also learn that the Mueller investigation is working its way closer to Trump. (And that’s just the first half of the day, things usually pick up in the afternoon.)