Spanish officials have announced the arrest of a Russian computer programmer wanted by the United States on hacking allegations while a decision is made on whether to extradite him.

The National Court said on Thursday that Stanislav Lisov, 31, was jailed on January 13 after Civil Guard police arrested him at Barcelona airport on an FBI warrant issued though Interpol.

The court said a Madrid judge questioned him by video over charges of criminal conspiracy in connection with electronic and computer fraud for which he is wanted by the US.

It said he was ordered to be jailed because of the seriousness of the offences and the risk of him fleeing justice, as he had done previously in the US.

Lisov was arrested as he prepared to take a flight out of Spain with his wife.

Darya Lisova, his wife, told the state-controlled Russia Today television station: "We were detained at the airport in Barcelona when we came to return a rented car before flying out to Lyons to continue our trip and visit friends."

She added: "We've already had two lawyers. The first could not cope with the responsibilities, so we hired a second. He is now familiarising himself with the case. So far, we have not been able to figure out what exactly they suspect him of doing."

Russia hacking allegations

The arrest comes at a time when tensions between the US and Russia have increased after accusations that Russia carried out a cyber-attack campaign against Democratic Party groups before the November 8 presidential election.

A declassified report released in early January by US intelligence officials said Russian President Vladimir Putin "ordered" a campaign to influence the 2016 US presidential election.

OPINION: The Kremlin and the US election

The 25-page public version of the report was released on Friday after the officials briefed President-elect Donald Trump and top politicians on Capitol Hill on a longer, classified version.

The report said Russian efforts to meddle in voting represent the most recent expression of Moscow's long-standing desire to undermine the US-led liberal democratic order.

It also noted that the scope of Russia's activities was significantly larger compared with previous operations.

Trump subsequently said that hacking by foreign powers did not affect the final outcome of the November presidential election, after being briefed on the intelligence report.