MOSCOW (AP) — Russian officials are denying allegations that Russian hackers breached Qatar's state news agency and planted a fake news story that led to a split between Qatar and the other Arab nations.

The Russian president's special envoy for cybersecurity told the Interfax news agency on Wednesday that Tuesday's CNN report contains "zero evidence" that the Russian government was behind the news story.

Separately, Vladimir Dzhabarov, deputy chairman of the foreign affairs committee at the upper chamber of parliament, on Wednesday dismissed the accusations as "an attempt to push the U.S. against Russia as key players in the Middle East."

Dzhabarov said the report shows that "the world has gone crazy — whatever happens, there is a Russian trace there, the trace of Russian hackers."