UK says Russian hacking proves Moscow behind Salisbury attack

Russia's attempts to hack into the OPCW chemicals weapons watchdog as it investigated the Salisbury nerve agent attack showed without doubt who was behind the poisoning, British foreign minister Jeremy Hunt said on Thursday.

Earlier, Dutch authorities said they disrupted an attempt in April by Russian intelligence agents to hack the Netherlands-based Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.

Sergei Skripal, a former colonel in Russian military intelligence, and his daughter Yulia, were found unconscious on a public bench in Salisbury, southern England in March.

"If anyone had questions in their mind about Russian military involvement in the Salisbury attacks this will put to rest those doubts," Hunt told the BBC.

"Russian government needs to know that if they flout international law in this way there will be consequences, they will be exposed and people will see the Russian government for what they are - which is an organisation that is trying to foster instability throughout the world."