Russia accused of cyber-attack on chemical weapons watchdog

Netherlands expelled four GRU officers after alleged attacks on OPCW and UK Foreign Office

• How Russian spies bungled cyber-attack on weapons watchdog

A Russian cyber-attack on the headquarters of the international chemical weapons watchdog was disrupted by Dutch military intelligence just weeks after the Salisbury novichok attack, it emerged on Thursday, amid fresh revelations of spying that escalated the diplomatic war between the west and Vladimir Putin.

The incident, which was thwarted with the help of British intelligence officials, came after the Sandworm cybercrime unit of the Russian military intelligence agency GRU had attempted unsuccessfully to hack the UK Foreign Office in March and the Porton Down chemical weapons facility in April.