After spending most of this year shielding from the coronavirus pandemic by mostly keeping away from public events, Russian President Vladimir Putin braved Moscow's icy winds for a rare appearance at the weekend to attend a memorable ceremony: the 100th anniversary since the foundation of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service, the SVR.

A former spy himself, Mr Putin evidently relished the company of fellow spooks. And, of course, he was far too polite to refer to what is, without doubt, his spies' latest outstanding achievement: the apparently successful penetration of much of the United States' critical national cyber infrastructure, an operation which is already being described as one of the most extensive hacking episodes in history.