The Obama Administration and the Russian government are both preparing to announce tit-for-tat “retaliations” against one another this week, with the White House making very public their plan to announce a whole series of new anti-Russia measures as soon as Thursday, and Russia vowing to respond in kind.

The White House measures are nominally “retaliation” for accusations that Russia “hacked” the US election against Hillary Clinton. President Obama has promised to make such a move, and with his term in office running out in a few weeks, he’s running out of time to make good on his promised revenge.

The public announcement is expected to include sanctions against Russia and some diplomatic measures. Administration officials have also promised cyber-attacks against Russia, though how much of them are public knowledge is as yet unknown.

Russian Foreign Ministry officials expressed annoyance at the constant “lies” about them hacking the election, saying that they view Obama’s moves as a deliberate provocation, and that Russia is preparing a retaliation as soon as the White House announces theirs.