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Vladimir Putin’s men were caught trying to hack the global chemical weapons watchdog which is investigating the Salisbury nerve agent attack.

Spooks in the Netherlands, where the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is based, said four Russians had been expelled after the alleged cyber strike.

Counter-terror cops swooped on the car which was parked outside the headquarters of the OPCW.

And inside they found hacking equipment, along with a bag full of empty Heineken beer cans and snack wrappers.

It appears Vlad’s spooks were drinking on the job as they botched another spy operation amid fears of a new Cold War.

Details were revealed on Thursday after the UK Government accused the GRU of a wave of other cyber attacks across the globe.

British intelligence helped thwart the operation which was launched in April, a month after the Salisbury Novichok poisoning which targeted Russian spy Sergei Skripal.

Prime Minister Theresa May said the operation "further shone a light on the unacceptable cyber activities" of the GRU and demonstrated its "disregard for the global values and rules that keep us safe".

The team of four GRU officers travelling on official Russian passports entered the Netherlands on April 10.

(Image: AFP)

The spy squad parked a car carrying specialist hacking equipment outside the headquarters of the OPCW in The Hague on April 13.

At that point Dutch counter-terrorism officers intervened to disrupt the operation and the four GRU officers were ordered to leave the country.

The "close access" hacking attempt followed a failed "spearphishing attack" on the OPCW headquarters.

Two of the officers were planning to travel on to Switzerland where the OPCW - which was at the time investigating the Salisbury attack and a suspected chemical weapons attack in Syria - has laboratories.

It also emerged today Russian hackers tried to target MH17 files which linked the Kremlin to the downing of the airliner.

(Image: AFP)

(Image: AFP)

Dutch authorities released CCTV images of the four men arriving at Schiphol Airport as well photographs of their passports.

They were named in them as Alekski Morenets, described as a cyber operator, Evgenii Serebriakov, also a cyber operator, Oleg Soktnikov, described as human intelligence support, and Alexey Minin, also intel support.

The attempt on the OPCW headquarters followed unsuccessful "spearphishing" attacks by the GRU on the UK Foreign Office and on the defence laboratories at Porton Down, which was also investigating the Salisbury attack.

The OPCW has confirmed the toxic chemical that killed Dawn Sturgess in Amesbury was the same nerve agent as that which poisoned Sergei and Yulia Skripal three months earlier.

(Image: AFP)

Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson said he welcomes the Dutch operation, and that the UK "stands solidly" with them.

He said: "All these cases are further examples of a pattern of reckless behaviour. It is the Russian state that bears the grave responsibility for actions of the GRU.

"We can no longer allow the GRU to act aggressively across the world with apparent impunity.

“We will not tolerate their aggressive behaviour and, together with our allies, we will expose and respond to their attempts to undermine international solidarity."