The U.S. special council looking into Russia's role in the U.S. elections has charged 13 Russian nationals and three Russian entities with interfering in the U.S. political process, from as early as 2014, Robert Mueller's office said on Friday.

They are charged by a grand jury with conspiracy to defraud the U.S. Five of them are charged with aggravated identity theft. According to the indictment, they posed as Americans and created online personas to "sow discord in the U.S. political system, including the 2016 U.S. election."