Moscow, Aug 3: A Russian woman, whose identity is yet to be disclosed, was sacked by the US embassy after finding her to be a mole. The foreign office found her being hand-in-glove with FSB, Russia's premier security agency, during her near-decade association with the American high commission.

The woman first came under the radar of embassy officials in mid-2016, which led to her security clearance being revoked, reported The Guardian. Punitive action, however, was not taken as the matter was being probed. Until she was sacked in January 2017, the 'spy' continued to access intranet and email system.

An expert, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the Russian spy made had played a significant role in Kremlin's hack of the US presidential elections 2016.

While the US Senate Committee on Intelligence continues to probe the role of suspected online hackers who accessed the details of elections to the Democratic National Committee (DNC), "it it is possible that all of the information they needed to get into the system came from the internal breach in the secret service", he said.

The report claims that the top two US agencies - CIA and FBI - were alerted about the suspected mole in mid-2016. However, no major action was taken.

The CIA has downplayed the role of the alleged spy, claiming that Russian nationals are hired by the embassy merely for the purpose of "translation, interpretation, cultural guidance, liaison and administrative support".

Experts, however, claim those having access to the intranet and email systems can also access the schedule of the President and the Vice President.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 03, 2018 05:56 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).