Russia today described British accusations that its spies were behind global cyber attacks as 'a diabolical perfume of lies'.

The Russian Foreign Ministry's phrase referred to the Salisbury poisonings earlier this year which saw the novichok nerve agent disguised in a fake perfume bottle.

Its spokesman Maria Zakharova said the new hacking allegations were unworthy and part of a disinformation campaign designed to damage Russian interests.

Russia's Foreign Ministry spokesman Maria Zakharova gives a briefing in Moscow today on British accusations that her country's spies were behind global cyber attacks (left) as president Putin (right) met with Narendra Modi

Ms Zakharova said the new hacking allegations were unworthy and part of a disinformation campaign designed to damage Russian interests.

It comes after Russian intelligence service the GRU was accused of launching a cyber attack on a global chemical weapons watchdog probing the Salisbury attack.

Officials in the Netherlands where the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons is based said four Russians had been expelled after a cyber strike.

UK intelligence helped thwart the operation, which was launched in April, a month after the Salisbury Novichok poisoning - which Russia also denies responsibility for.

Russian president Vladimir Putin waves to spectators prior to boarding a car after his arrival in New Delhi as the GRU's campaign of cyber warfare against the west was today exposed

But Ms Zakharova said today the accusations were the product of someone with a 'rich imagination', adding: 'It's some kind of a diabolical perfume cocktail.'

And a Foreign Ministry representative added: 'Western spy mania is gathering pace.'

Asked about the UK's accusations, a spokesman for the Russian embassy said: 'This statement is reckless. It has become a tradition for such claims to lack any evidence.

Russia's phrase of 'a diabolical perfume of lies' referred to the Salisbury poisonings earlier this year which saw the novichok nerve agent disguised in a fake perfume bottle (above)

Russian president Vladimir Putin waves to spectators upon his arrival today in New Delhi, India

Ms Zakharova is pictured with President Vladimir Putin in January 2017, receiving a medal

'It is yet another element of the anti-Russian campaign by the UK Government.

'In December 2017 during the then-foreign secretary Boris Johnson's visit to Moscow, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov proposed to launch expert consultations on cybersecurity in order to address UK's concerns, if any.

'The offer was turned down. The only reasonable explanation is that the UK has no facts for a substantive discussion.

'Thus, such statements by the Foreign Office are nothing but crude disinformation, aimed at confusing the British and world public opinion.

'By the way, it is hardly a coincidence that these accusations appear exactly at the time of Nato defence ministers meeting in Brussels and announcements of creating special cyber-attack military units in several western countries.'

Four GRU officers who entered the Netherlands at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport on April 10

Pictures released at a briefing in The Hague show the cache of equipment seized from the men

Details of the alleged cyber attack were revealed this morning after the British Government accused the GRU of a wave of other cyber attacks across the globe.

Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said the GRU was carrying out 'indiscriminate and reckless' cyber strikes targeting political institutions, businesses, media and sport.

Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson, attending a Nato summit in Brussels, said Moscow was targeting organisations with no military value.

The National Cyber Security Centre said that a number of hackers known to have launched attacks have now been linked to the GRU.

UK authorities believe two Russians, using the aliases Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov, smeared novichok on a door handle at former Kremlin agent Sergei Skripal's home

Police Community Support Officers stand outside Mr Skripal's home in Salisbury in March

The revelations will further strain relations with Russia after Britain blamed Moscow for the nerve agent attack in Salisbury last March which left one person dead.

Britain's relations with Russia have been in the deep freeze since the Salisbury attack in March which targeted former Kremlin agent Sergei Skripal.

UK authorities believe two Russians, using the aliases Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov, smeared novichok on a door handle at Mr Skripal's home on March 4.

The attack left Mr Skripal and his daughter Yulia critically ill, and Dawn Sturgess, 44, who was later exposed to the same nerve agent, died in July.