Russia-driven campaign to spread disinformation about Ukraine exposed in Austria
Austrian authorities said on Monday that they had uncovered a Russian-driven campaign aimed at spreading disinformation about Ukraine following the detention in December of a Bulgarian woman accused of spying for Russia.
As reported by Associated Press (AP), Austrian domestic intelligence found evidence of the operation by analysing devices found during a search of the woman's home, the Austrian Interior Ministry reported.
The investigation showed that a few weeks after the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, a cell was created that worked for Russian intelligence and planned a large-scale disinformation campaign in German-speaking countries, including Austria.
The Internal Ministry reports that the group was active online but also used stickers and graffiti with far-right symbols and nationalist statements that were intended to look like they were the work of pro-Ukrainian activists.
The Bulgarian suspect, whose name has not been disclosed, is believed to have played a significant role in these efforts and acted as an intelligence contact, the ministry said, adding that she has confessed to working for the cell, particularly in 2022.
A year ago, the largest espionage scandal in decades erupted in Austria when a former Austrian intelligence officer was arrested and accused of, among other things, passing mobile phone data of former Austrian officials to Russian intelligence and helping to prepare a robbery of a well-known journalist's apartment.
The former official, who was later released from custody, is suspected of providing confidential information to Jan Maršálek, a fugitive Austrian wanted on suspicion of fraud after the 2020 collapse of the German payment company Wirecard, where he was chief operating officer.
The arrest warrant states that chat messages provided by the UK authorities directly link Maršálek to Russia's FSB intelligence service.
Last summer, it was reported that Western countries were concerned about the activity of Russian spies in Austria, where they formally do not violate anything until they act directly against Austria.