Two alleged Russian spies were expelled from the Netherlands earlier this year after being accused of planning to hack into a Swiss laboratory that analysed the Novichok nerve agent used in the Salisbury poisoning, it has emerged. The men were arrested in The Hague as part of a joint operation involving British, Swiss, and Dutch intelligence agencies.
The Swiss daily Tages-Anzeiger reported that the men were carrying equipment that could be used to break into the Spiez laboratory’s IT network. The Swiss Federal Intelligence Service confirmed its participation in the operation, which prevented illegal actions against a critical Swiss infrastructure.
The Spiez laboratory, near Berne, had previously confirmed that the Skripals were poisoned with the military-grade nerve agent Novichok. It has also been investigating poison gas attacks by the Syrian regime. The laboratory had previously been targeted by hackers from the Russian-affiliated Sandworm group, but it is unclear if this is linked to the expulsion of the spies.
In a separate development, two men identified as Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov, accused by the UK of poisoning the Skripals, admitted in an interview with Russian TV that they had visited Switzerland on several occasions. The Russian embassy in Switzerland called the reports of the expulsions “fabrications,” while the Kremlin denied any involvement in the Salisbury poisoning.
