Austria
Russian spies take over the city again: "Like an octopus"
Nora Fernstedt
Published 00.50
Vienna – again the spy capital of Europe?
The murder plot of a journalist, suspected audio terror and the murder of a Russian defecting helicopter pilot point to that.
"Russian intelligence is like an octopus, and its head is currently in Central Europe," an intelligence source told the Wall Street Journal.
Quick version
Classical music, schnitzel, historic cafes – and Russian spies.
Inside the walls of WI's grand buildings, secret operations are being planned for the Russian security service.
European countries have expelled more than 600 Russian diplomats, labeled as spies, after the invasion of Ukraine.
Many of them have ended up in Austria. Over the past two years, the number of Russian employees in the country has increased sharply. Today there are around 250 people who work as diplomats and administrators.
Of them, around half are spies of various kinds, according to the Austrian intelligence service.
The Wall Street Journal has spoken to scores of European and American intelligence and government sources who paint the same picture – that Vienna has become Russia's new spy hub.
Rooftop equipment
It is about the financing of murder and sabotage as well as industrial espionage and influence operations.
According to the WSJ, the spies operate from over 40 properties in Vienna owned by Moscow and people connected to the Russian state.
Surveillance equipment has reportedly been seen sticking up from rooftops, and some of it is said to be intercepting telecommunications.
Historic scandal unraveled
Several employees of the Austrian intelligence service have also been accused of spying for Russia.
In April, a story unfolded that was described as the biggest espionage deal in decades.
It was about a former employee within the intelligence service, who is suspected of having systematically provided the Russian security service with secret information.
Among other things, he allegedly used his contacts to obtain journalist Christo Grozev's address and pass it on to Russian agents.
Grozev, a reporter for the journalism network Bellingcat, won international acclaim for his documentary that revealed how the Kremlin planned to assassinate opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
Electronic equipment and computers were stolen from the journalist's home in Vienna and there were plans to assassinate him.
After the burglary, Grozev was forced to leave the country.
The suspicion: Paid for murder
The Vienna-based Russian agents are also suspected of financing the assassination of Russian helicopter pilot Maksim Kuzminov, who defected to Ukraine's side in the war.
Kuzminov was shot five times and run over by a car in Spain, where he lived. The perpetrators were paid in cash by Russian government employees in Vienna, according to intelligence sources.
20 got "Havana syndrome"
Another example was in 2021 when 20 US embassy employees, including CIA agents, fell ill with the mysterious Havana syndrome, according to US and Austrian sources.
The syndrome is described as a series of unexplained, medical symptoms such as tinnitus, dizziness, nausea and ringing sounds. It has primarily been experienced overseas by US government officials and military personnel. US intelligence has openly expressed suspicions that Russian intelligence is responsible.
In the case in Vienna, it was speculated that Russia used some type of "acoustic weapon", sound terror, which caused the symptoms.
As late as 2023, however, the United States could present no evidence that any foreign enemy had used such a weapon.
"Extremely dangerous"
That spies are placed precisely in Vienna is nothing new. During the Cold War, the city was a notorious international spy hub.
It is perhaps not so strange either: Espionage is legal in the country, as long as it is not directed at Austria.
Several critical voices have been raised against the law.
Stephanie Krisper, who represents the liberal opposition party Neos in parliament, has said that Austria's government must end its "extremely dangerous inaction" on Russian spying. She believes that the country is destroying the work to curb Russian influence in Europe.
Recently, Austria's Minister of Justice spoke positively about changing the law that allows espionage.
FACTS
In April 2022, less than two months after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer became the first EU leader to visit Putin in Moscow, drawing criticism from Western allies.
Austria's former foreign minister Karin Kneissl was often accused during her time in office in 2017-2019 of doing Russia's business. The criticism intensified when Putin himself appeared at her wedding in 2018 and danced the waltz with the bride.
Last year, Kneissl moved to St. Petersburg, after previously taking a board position in the Russian oil giant Rosneft. She also brought her ponies, which she had previously stabled in Syria.
Even Heinz-Christian Strache, former party leader of the right-wing populist FPÖ, has received sharp criticism for Russia connections. In 2019, German media published a video in which Strache, or "the Red Bull brother from Austria" as he called himself, partied in Ibiza with a woman he thought was a relative of a Russian oligarch.
The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the possibility of offering lucrative public contracts in exchange for support for the FPÖ in the election campaign.
(TT)
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