Dozens of high-flying trainee Russian spies have been banished to the Siberian wilderness after taking part in 'indecent' graduation that compromised their identities, reports Daily Mail.

The agents staged a brash cavalcade of black Mercedes Gelandewagens through Moscow streets in a mafia-style show of strength to mark their graduation from the FSB Academy.

They were given the choice of quitting the country's elite security service or being stationed in Chukotka or Kamchatka, and almost all of them picked the second option. 

Horns blaring, and police not daring to intervene, the shocking spectacle was denounced by veteran Cold War spies, and plainly infuriated Vladimir Putin, himself an ex-KGB secret serviceman who served undercover in East Germany. 

Now, three weeks after the event, spy chiefs in Moscow have acted against the 'guilty persons' demanding that they either quit their FSB - Federal Security Service - careers altogether, or be banished to Russia's remotest regions to serve as a punishment for their excesses.

The FSB was once headed by Putin, who declined to comment on the Mercedes showboating at the time but the Kremlin publicly demanded that the service's leadership should deal with the scandal.

'The main part of FSB Academy graduates who took part in the ride of Gelandewagen cars were sent to serve in Chukotka and Kamchatka detachments,' reported Life.ru commenting on the results of an investigation.

'The graduates were offered either to agree and to go to these remote regions near the border, or to resign.

'Almost all chose the first option.'

Windswept Chukotka - where Chelsea FC tycoon Roman Abramovich was once the governor - is the easternmost region of Russia straddling the Arctic Circle and almost touching Alaska, while Kamchatka is a vast volcano-and-glacier peninsula to the north of Japan on the Pacific edge of the Siberian land mass.

Both locations are more than eight hours flying time from Moscow.

A spy source said: 'It was important for the FSB leadership to teach their graduates a lesson for such a provocative behaviour.'

An FSB statement condemned the 'indecent and demonstrative behaviour' and the 'anger' it caused the public.

Senior staff from the elite academy were also demoted or punished in other ways for the antics of their students.

'The leadership of the academy are subject to disciplinary actions,' the statement continued.

'Some of the directors were reduced to lower positions, others were listed for resignation.' 

Millions of Russians have watched footage of the incident, with many, including veteran spies, branding it a shameful display of wealth and power at a time of economic crisis. 

'For four years they were taught conspiracy, corporate ethics and that one must not reveal secrets,' retired FSB Major-General Alexander Mikhailov told the Komsomolskaya Pravda tabloid. 'So pompous and arrogant. If that's how they start their careers, they won't do any good.' 

The newly minted agents hired dozens of black Mercedes jeeps which they drove through the Russian capital's streets last month, blocking traffic, honking their horns, and hanging out the windows filming each other on their mobile phones.

They also organised a group photograph, which showed some of the young men clutching champagne flutes. 

The photograph found its way onto the internet along with video footage of the convoy.