Four agents were caught trying to hack into the international chemical weapons watchdog’s headquarters in The Hague, according to Dutch authorities

The four men, named as IT experts Aleksei Morenets and Evgenii Serebriakov, and support agents Oleg Sotnikov and Alexey Minin, travelled on diplomatic passports to Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport on 10 April, and were met there by a Russian embassy official.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The four GRU officers. Photograph: Dutch Defence Ministry

All from the GRU’s unit 26165, their journey had begun at the Russian military intelligence agency’s headquarters; a mobile phone carried by one of the men had been activated just outside the building, while another had a taxi receipt for a journey from nearby to Moscow Sheremetyevo airport.



Facebook Twitter Pinterest A taxi receipt from near GRU headquarters. Photograph: Ministerie van Defensie/Dutch Ministry of Defence

On 11 April the four hired a car and spent the next two days on reconnaissance near the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) headquarters in The Hague on Johan de Witlaan, barely two minutes’ drive from the Russian embassy, their movements closely followed by the Dutch intelligence service MIVD.

On 13 April the four men parked their hire car, a Citroën C3, in the car park of the Marriott hotel next to the OPCW building, the headquarters of the organisation investigating both the use of chemical weapons in Syria and the previous month’s nerve agent attack in Salisbury. The men spent some time taking photographs. At this point the Dutch security agents intervened.

The Dutch agents apprehended the Russians.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest GRU officers being apprehended by Dutch intelligence. Photograph: Dutch Ministry of Defence/PA

In the boot of their car was uncovered an arsenal of specialist electronic wifi hacking equipment.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The inside of the car. Photograph: Ministerie van Defensie/Dutch Ministry of Defence

Among the equipment the Dutch seized were a computer, battery, transformer, a hacker’s so-called “wifi pineapple” and an antenna covered by a coat in the back of the car.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Equipment for hacking wifi networks. Photograph: Dutch Ministry of Defence/PA

The Russians also had numerous mobile phones of different sizes and makes, the access codes for the OPCW network, and cash: €20,000 and $20,000.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest US dollars recovered by Dutch intelligence. Photograph: Ministerie van Defensie/Dutch Ministry of Defence

The Dutch agents also recovered evidence the Russians were planning to target a Swiss OPCW lab, including train tickets from Utrecht to Basel on 17 April. The men were also travelling with Google Maps printouts of Russian consulates in the Swiss cities of Berne and Geneva.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Train tickets to Switzerland. Photograph: Ministerie van Defensie/Dutch Ministry of Defence

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Google Maps printouts of Russian diplomatic residences. Photograph: Ministerie van Defensie/Dutch Ministry of Defence

On further investigation, agents said the Russians’ laptops also contained material related to the Dutch investigation into the 2014 downing of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 over Ukraine and photos of one of the men at the Rio Olympics.