Russian President Vladimir Putin personally directed how hacked emails were used in a campaign to interfere with the US election, according to intelligence officials who spoke to NBC News in the US.

The information was supplied from diplomatic sources as well as spies working for US allies, the officials said. Unnamed US intelligence officials said the information gave them a "high level of confidence" in the assessment, the US network reported.

According to the diplomatic sources, the Russian influence campaign had its origins in a vendetta by Putin for comments Hillary Clinton made about the integrity of Russian elections in 2011.

From there, the effort changed into a campaign to demonstrate US political corruption, NBC reported, and to "split off key American allies by creating the image that [other countries] couldn't depend on the US to be a credible global leader anymore", according to the official.

Russian President Vladimir Putin. Credit:AP

The report follows the assessment from the CIA that Russia sought to aid Republican Donald Trump win the election on November 8 against Democrat Hillary Clinton.

Fairfax Media