Bungling Russian spies' biggest blunder revealed: Hacker's car documents help identify more than 300 GRU agents… because his Lada is registered to their Moscow cyber HQ
Russia faces storm of hacking allegations, but denies claims, calling latest evidence 'big fantasies'
Putin's hapless hackers caught red-handed in Holland inadvertently outed more than 300 other agents in their most extraordinary blunder, it was revealed today.
Spy agencies around the world now have a database of hundreds of Russian agents - all because two of the men caught in The Hague had diplomatic passports using their real names and dates of birth.
News agency Bellingcat, who revealed the true identities of the Salisbury assassins, say the two men are both registered as living at the GRU's Military Academy in Moscow.
Alexey Morenets' Lada is also registered at GRU’s cyber warfare department down the road - and investigators say by searching other vehicles registered to the same address they have identified 305 other members of the 26165 unit accused of hacking targets all over world.
To add to Mr Putin’s embarrassment the leaked list includes his spies' names, dates of birth and mobile phone numbers - unmasking and effectively dismantling his most elite cyber attack unit.
Adding to the Russian President's woes, it was also revealed today:
His country faces new sanctions to punish him for launching a four year cyber Cold War;
His team of four spies caught at The Hague carried out blunder after blunder that revealed all the missions they carried out since 2015;
Evidence gathered by British and Dutch spies helps them uncover GRU's giant spy network;
US vows to arrest and prosecute seven agents if they ever leave Russia for hacking and fraud;
The extraordinary moment the four 'dumb Bonds' were arrested at the Marriott in The Hague was revealed by the hotel's manager today.
Vincent Pahlplatz said police arrived at the hotel in the city's upmarket Statenkwartier district and asked him what rooms the men were in when the spies all emerged from the lift.
But there were 'no guns, no handcuffs or force' and the men left calmly until one threw his smartphone on the ground and started stamping on it.
Mr Pahlplatz told AFP: 'The police went to the front desk and said we would like to talk to a few of your guests," Pahlplatz told AFP. At that very same time, the four men came out of the elevator into the lobby, coincidentally.
'The police officers simply told the men: "Will you please follow me' – and they did". They followed the police outside and never returned. Some people were checking in and they didn't even notice what was going on'.
He added: 'It sounds like James Bond but there was no James Bond involved. No Aston Martins, no revolving number plates, nobody sky diving from the rooftop. It's a very dull James Bond story'.
The West vowed last night to dismantle Vladimir Putin’s cyber war network amid warnings he could target a UK power station after a wave of ‘reckless’ attacks.
In a dramatic move yesterday, British and Dutch authorities named four members of Russia’s GRU military intelligence unit caught red-handed trying to infiltrate the inquiry into the Salisbury poisoning.
The four bungling officers were captured in the act during an extraordinary attempt to hack into the world’s chemical weapons watchdog – while sitting in a car outside its headquarters.
Security officials also accused the GRU of mounting cyber attacks against the Foreign Office and the military laboratory at Porton Down.
Hours later, the United States accused a string of Kremlin agents of trying to hack into anti-doping bodies and a nuclear power station.
