Russia denies any attempt to hack chemical weapons watchdog on Dutch allegations

A source at Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Thursday that Dutch allegations about an alleged Russian attempt to hack the chemical weapons watchdog were absurd, the RIA news agency reported.

Dutch authorities disrupted an attempt in April by Russian intelligence agents to hack the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), Defence Minister Ank Bijleveld said on Thursday.

"There was no attack," RIA cited the unnamed source as saying, adding that the allegations stemmed from a Western campaign against Russia.

"We are part of all the organisation's (OPCW's) structures so why would we hack it? We have access, their entire network is open to us. This is another absurdity." (Reporting by Polina Devitt Writing by Andrew Osborn Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)

(With inputs from agencies.)