Embarrassment for Putin as 305 ‘spies’ are named

Trail leads from four hackers to list of alleged GRU agents on vehicle registration database

RUSSIA’S GRU spy agency has suffered further humiliation after a list of more than 300 names of suspected agents was discovered online. Four men who were caught attempting to hack into the OPCW chemical watchdog in the Netherlands left a paper trial apparently exposing hundreds of their comrades. The names of the four hackers, announced by British and Dutch authorities at a press conference on Wednesday, were initially thought to be aliases.

However an analysis of Russian records by Bellingcat, the investigative website, has suggested the spies did not take the trouble to travel on false passports, unlike the Salisbury poisoners. One of the men, named as Aleksey Minin, has a registered address where the Military Academy of the Ministry of Defence is located. This academy is more widely known as the GRU Conservatory. In a further security lapse, Bellingcat also discovered a Russian vehicle ownership database that listed Aleksey Morenets. As well as his name, his passport number, verified in the Oct 4 disclosure, was included on the vehicle document.

This car is registered at the address thought to be the headquarters of hacking centre Unit 26165. Other vehicles registered to the same address revealed the names of a further 305 individuals. These people were aged between 27 to 53, Bellingcat revealed, all well within the ages of military service.

All 305 names had passport numbers and, in most cases, mobile telephone numbers attached. All information can be found on the publicly-available automobile registration database.

The Daily Telegraph understands that registering a private car using the GRU’S address would mean the individual would not need to pay car tax and would be ignored for traffic offences.

Bob Seely, the Tory MP who sits on the foreign affairs committee, said: “It is extraordinarily unprofessional on the part of the GRU. We need to find out where all these people have been travelling – 305 is the best part of a battalion – let’s find how many of them have been to the UK and whereabouts.”

Mr Seely has said he will unveil the real identity of the second Skripal suspect – hitherto known under the pseudonym Alexander Petrov – in a joint event with Bellingcat at the House of Commons on Tuesday.

♦ British teenagers are being targeted by fake Russian-run Harry Potter fan accounts to create confusion over the Salisbury poisonings and cyber attacks. Researchers at Clemson University have analysed millions of social media messages and tweets to find those with Kremlin-back hallmarks.

“It is well funded, it is dangerous and it is hiding in plain sight,” Darren Linvill, a specialist in Russian disinformation, told The Times.