Netherlands expels Russian spies targeting chemical weapons watchdog
- Zachary Basu, author ofAxios Sneak Peek
Dutch officials showing four suspected Russian GRU officers captured on an airport security camera. Photo: Bart Maat/AFP/Getty Images
The Netherlands has expelled four Russian military intelligence officers who were attempting to hack the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), a global watchdog investigating the Novichok poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal in Salisbury, England, reports the AP.
The details: Dutch authorities said the Russians were expelled from the country on April 13, the same day they were discovered in a hotel parking lot across the street from OPCW setting up a car full of spy equipment. A receipt shows the four men, who are also suspected of targeted the investigation into the 2014 Malaysian Airlines crash over Ukraine, took a taxi from the headquarters of the GRU, Russia's military intelligence agency, to the Moscow airport.