Austria says it has revealed a Russian campaign to spread false information about Ukraine
Vienna (AP) – Austrian authorities said on Monday they found a Russian-speaking campaign aimed at disinformation about Ukraine after a Bulgarian woman accused of surveillance in Russia was detained in December.
The Ministry of Home Affairs said in a statement that Austrian domestic intelligence agency said in a statement that it found evidence of the operation when it analyzed equipment found in the search of the woman’s home. It said the investigation showed that Russia has established a cell for Russian intelligence a few weeks after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and plans to conduct large-scale false propaganda campaigns in countries that Germany says, especially Austria, in particular.
According to the Ministry of Interior, the group is active online, but also uses stickers and graffiti, as well as content such as far-right symbols and nationalist statements, aiming to look like pro-Ukrainian activists are responsible for them.
The ministry said the Bulgarian suspect’s name was not released and was considered to have played an important role in the work and acted as an intelligence link, adding that she admitted working in the cell, especially in 2022.
A year ago, Austria’s biggest spy scandal broke out in decades and a former Austrian intelligence officer was arrested.
Later officials were later released, allegedly providing sensitive information to fleeing Austrian Jan Marsalek, a German payments company Wirecard, who is the chief operating officer since the bankruptcy in 2020. The arrest warrant says chat messages provided by British authorities link Marsalek directly to Russia’s FSB intelligence agency.
