Russia's attack on US electoral system was further reaching than the federal government initially said and it included attempts to meddle with systems in a majority of states, a report on Tuesday revealed.

Hackers got into databases and software systems in 39 states - twice as many as the government has said, Bloomberg reported.

In one state they were able to access a campaign finance database. In Illinois, the attackers tried to delete and make changes to voter data, the news publication says.

The Obama administration contacted the Kremlin about the menacing behavior through a back channel in October, two sources told Bloomberg, and warned that the interference could escalate into a full-scale conflict.

Russia's attack on US electoral system was further reaching than the federal government initially said and it included attempts to meddle with systems in a majority of states, a report on Tuesday revealed

Three sources with knowledge of the situation disclosed the new details on the Russian campaign to disrupt the presidential election to Bloomberg.

A report in the Intercept on classified documents it obtained from a source at the NSA, who's since been identified as Reality Winner, said a breach on a voting software supplier's system could have affected voters in eight states.

There has been no evidence so far that the attackers threw the vote, but the reporting in both publications raised new concerns about vulnerabilities in the United States' voting systems.

The federal government did not widespread authority over states' individual voting systems at the time of November's election, creating obstacles in its investigation of hacking in some states.

Bloomberg noted that remains unclear why the hackers did not act once they had access. Perhaps they were waived off after the US discovered the incursions an threatened Moscow. A former official said they may have found they needed better access to pull off the intended attack.

The Obama administration believed their plot may just have been to undermine confidence in the electoral process.

They could also be using the information they gleaned to come after the US when voters pick a president again in three years.

Senate Republicans and Democrats reached agreement late Monday on a new package of sanctions on Russia amid the firestorm over the meddling.

Top lawmakers on two committees - Banking and Foreign Relations - announced the deal, which would require a congressional review if a president attempts to ease or end current penalties.

The plan also calls for strengthening current sanctions and imposing new ones on corrupt Russian actors, those involved in human rights abuses and those supplying weapons to the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Penalties also would be slapped on those responsible for malicious cyber activity on behalf of the Russian government.

Fireworks go off over Moscow marking Russia Day on Monday. Senate Republicans and Democrats meanwhile reached agreement on a new package of sanctions on Russia amid the firestorm over the election meddling

The batch of sanctions would be added to a bill imposing penalties on Iran that the Senate is currently debating.

'The amendment to the underlying Iran sanctions bill maintains and substantially expands sanctions against the government of Russia in response to the violation of the territorial integrity of the Ukraine and Crimea, its brazen cyberattacks and interference in elections, and its continuing aggression in Syria,' said Republicans and Democrats on the committees.

A procedural vote on the Russia sanctions was happening on Wednesday and the measure had strong bipartisan support.

The legislation also allows new penalties on key elements of the Russia economy, including mining, metals, shipping and railways.

'By codifying existing sanctions and requiring congressional review of any decision to weaken or lift them, we are ensuring that the United States continues to punish President (Vladimir) Putin for his reckless and destabilizing actions,' said Sen. Chuck Schumer,nthe top Senate Democrat said.

'These additional sanctions will also send a powerful and bipartisan statement to Russia and any other country who might try to interfere in our elections that they will be punished.'