Austria reveals a Russian-driven disinformation campaign about Ukraine

Austrian authorities have announced that they revealed a Russian-driven campaign aimed at spreading disinformation about Ukraine.

Austrian intelligence found evidence of the operation by analyzing devices found during a search of the home of a Bulgarian woman detained in December and accused of spying for Russia. The Austrian Interior Ministry made this statement, according to an AP report.

The investigation indicated 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.

According to the interior ministry, 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 produced by 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.

In 2024, the largest espionage scandal in decades erupted in Austria when a former Austrian intelligence officer was arrested and accused of, among other things, passing the 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 Marsalek, a fugitive Austrian wanted on suspicion of fraud after the 2020 collapse of the German payment company Wirecard, where he served as chief operating officer.

The arrest warrant states that chat messages provided by the British authorities directly link Marsalek to the Russian intelligence service FSB.

In the summer of 2024, it was reported that Western countries were concerned about the activity of Russian spies in Austria; they formally do not violate anything until they act directly against Austria.