The U.S. Treasury Friday sanctioned a Russian research institute for its alleged ties to the powerful malware Triton used to damage a Saudi petrochemical plant in 2017.

The Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said in a notice on Friday that the Russian government's Central Scientific Research Institute of Chemistry and Mechanics was "connected to" Triton and responsible for "building customized tools" that enabled the 2017 attack.

The Treasury also said malware hackers have been probing U.S. facilities as well.

Triton is a malicious software program aimed at attacking control systems at power and industrial plants, targeting widely-used controllers made by Schneider Electric.

The Treasury alleged the malware was initially deployed at the petrochemical plant via phishing techniques.

Earlier this week, the Russian embassy in Washington refuted the charges, which it said were meant to stir Russophobic sentiment in the U.S. society.

Russia respects the sovereignty of other countries and has no intention to engage in any kind of destabilizing operations around the world, it added.