WASHINGTON — The Justice Department's Office of Special Counsel has formally charged 13 Russian nationals and three Russian entities with interfering in the U.S. elections.

READ INDICTMENT: Justice Department's indictment listing charges

Robert Mueller's office says the defendants are accused of engaging in operations to interefere with elections and political processes.

The federal grand jury's indictment, returned Friday, include charges of conspiracy to defraud the U.S., wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.

The defendants are listed as Mikhail Ivanovich Bystrov, Mikhail Leonidovich Burchik, Aleksandra Yuryevna Krylova, Anna Vladislavovna Bogacheva, Sergey Pavlovich Polozov, Maria Anatolyevna Bovda, Robert Sergeyevich Bovda, Dzheykhun Nasini Ogly Aslanov, Vadim Vladimirovich Podkopaev, Gleb Igorevich Vasilchenko, Irina Viktorovna Kavernzina, Vladimir Venkov and Yevgeniy Viktorovich Prigozhnin.

One of the entities named is the Internet Research Agency LLC, "a Russian organization engaged in operations to interfere with elections and political processes," the indictment says.

The indictment alleges that the defendants posed as Americans and operated social media pages designed to attract American audiences.

It also says the defendants stole the identities of Americans to post on social media for the purpose of interfering with the U.S. political system, including the 2016 presidential election.

This is a developing story. Stay with Spectrum News for updates as they become available.