The Dutch government has defended a decision not to detain four Russians accused of an attempted cyber-attack on the global chemical weapons watchdog in The Hague.
The suspected Russian agents were sent home as it was not a criminal inquiry, Prime Minister Mark Rutte said.
The US and UK have joined the Netherlands in blaming Russian spies for a series of cyber-plots worldwide.
Russia has complained of a “stage-managed propaganda campaign”. The decision in April not to prosecute the suspects starkly contrasted with a US announcement on Thursday to level charges against the four, as well as three other alleged members of Russia’s GRU military intelligence agency. Reports from Moscow on Friday suggested the Dutch ambassador had been summoned by Russia. The West accuses Moscow of violating international law and provides evidence; Moscow denies it and derides the claims. The military hackers story is no different. Russian officials and pro-Kremlin media have brushed aside Western claims of GRU cyber attacks with one phrase: “spy mania”. The Izvestia newspaper claimed “the virus of spy
mania had once again infected the West”. Government newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta maintained the accusations of Russian military intelligence hacking were “baseless”. Russia’s foreign ministry has already dismissed “Western hysteria about all-mighty Russian cyber-spies”. The tone is brash, mocking and belligerent. The message to the West – between the lines – is that Russia cannot be pressured or isolated. But existing sanctions against Russia are beginning to bite and the country’s economic problems are mounting. If the latest claims about GRU hackers spark a fresh round of Western sanctions, Russia’s economic difficulties will only increase. The four men had flown into Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport in April on diplomatic passports, hired a car and parked it at the Marriott hotel in The Hague, next to the OPCW office.
