"We will not allow individuals, groups, nation states or a combination of them to compromise the privacy of our citizens, the economic interests of our companies, or the security of our country," said Acting Assistant Attorney General Mary McCord at a news conference.

The person arrested in Canada is Karim Baratov, 22, a dual Canadian-Kazakh national. He was taken into custody in Ancaster, Ont., on Tuesday. 

Russian intelligence officer Igor Sushchin is one of the four criminally charged. (FBI/Reuters)

"Our job was to locate and arrest one of the people," Toronto police spokesman Mark Pugash told The Canadian Press. "We did that safely without incident."

Toronto officers were involved because their fugitive squad has a strong reputation, Pugash said. He could offer no further information about Baratov but said the suspect had been turned over to the RCMP.

"This was a very large operation," Pugash added.

U.S. officials said Baratov also went by the names Kay, Karim Taloverov and Karim Akehmet Tokbergenov.

Dmitry Dokuchaev, also a Russian intelligence agent, is one of the four charged. (FBI/Reuters)

Russian intelligence (FSB) agents Dmitry Aleksandrovich Dokuchaev, 33, and Igor Anatolyevich Sushchin, 43, also face charges. Russian national and U.S. resident Alexsey Alexseyevich Belan, also known as "Magg," 29, has also been indicted.

Belan, who had previously been indicted in 2012 and 2013, was named one of FBI's most wanted cybercriminals in November 2013 but escaped to Russia before he could be extradited from Europe, the department said.

Alexsey Belan faces charges as well. He had previously been indicted in 2012 and 2013, and was named one of FBI's most wanted cybercriminals in November 2013. (FBI/Reuters)

The charges arise from a compromise of Yahoo user accounts that began at least as early as 2014. Though the Justice Department has previously charged Russian hackers with cybercrime — as well as hackers sponsored by the Chinese and Iranian governments — this is the first criminal case brought against Russian government officials.

The announcement comes as federal authorities investigate Russian interference through hacking in the 2016 presidential election.

Acting Assistant Attorney General Mary McCord announced the charges at a news conference on Wednesday. (Susan Walsh/Associated Press)

Breach happened in 2014

Yahoo didn't disclose the 2014 breach until last September when it began notifying at least 500 million users that their email addresses, birth dates, answers to security questions and other personal information may have been stolen. Three months later, Yahoo revealed it had uncovered a separate hack in 2013 affecting about 1 billion accounts, including some that were also hit in 2014.

In a statement, Chris Madsen, Yahoo's assistant general counsel and head of global security, thanked law enforcement agencies for their work.

"We're committed to keeping our users and our platforms secure and will continue to engage with law enforcement to combat cybercrime," he said.