MOSCOW - The head of the Russian Security Council says the country recently has seen a marked increase in attempted cyberattacks from overseas.

The comments by Nikolai Patrushev, quoted by Russian news agencies Sunday, come amid tensions over the allegations by United States’ intelligence agencies of a Kremlin-directed effort to interfere in the U.S. presidential elections and bolster support for President-elect Donald Trump using stolen information.

The alleged cyberattacks included penetrations of the Democratic National Committee and the campaign of Hillary Clinton.

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The Russian news agencies quoted Patrushev saying in an interview that is to appear in state newspaper Rossiiskaya Gazeta: “Recently, we have established a significant growth in attempts to inflict damage on the Russian information system from the side of outside powers.”