The capital of Austria, Vienna, has become a center for Russia to conduct secret operations and place its own spies on the territory of Europe.
Points of attention
- Vienna became a base for Russian covert operations in Europe, including the financing of assassinations and sabotage.
- Over the past two years, the number of Russian civil servants in Austria has increased from 300 to more than 500.
- Russian spies send large amounts of cash to neighbouring countries via highways and detours.
- Given its concentration in the country, Austrian counterintelligence has an insufficient infrastructure to curb Russian espionage.
- Journalist Hristo Grozev called on the Austrian government to do more to limit Russian espionage and its influence on Austrian institutions.
How the Kremlin turned Vienna into a headquarters for its spies
Over the past two years, the number of Russian civil servants in Austria has grown from 300 to more than 500, more than half of whom are diplomats and administrators, according to intelligence officials. According to the estimates of the Austrian special services, up to half of them work as spies, the publication says.
It is emphasized that after Germany closed the Russian consulate in Munich, where, according to German officials, there were several spies, Russian employees moved to Salzburg, an Austrian city located across the border in the east.
According to European officials and intelligence officers, Vienna has become a base for Russian covert operations, including financing and logistical support for assassinations, sabotage and recruitment throughout Europe, as well as industrial espionage and influence operations, the authors of the material emphasise.
What is known about the operations of Russian spies from the territory of Austria
The actual legalisation of espionage activities on Austrian territory influences the situation.
Currently, Russian spies based in Vienna are suspected of helping to recruit and finance Russian operations, such as the tracking of Western arms supplies to Kyiv in Poland and the assassination in Spain of Ukrainian defector Russian military helicopter pilot Maksym Kuzminov.
According to European intelligence services, the killers of the pilot were paid in cash provided by Russian civil servants from Vienna.
According to an Austrian intelligence official, Russia sends large amounts of cash to neighboring countries such as Lithuania by road. From there, Austrian diplomats transport them across Europe, often in diplomatic bags that cannot be checked by the police, the publication said.
The other day, journalist Christo Grozev said that the Austrian government should do more to curb Russian espionage, noting that it has infiltrated Austrian institutions and business circles.
"Austria has the counterintelligence infrastructure of a very small country, although, given the concentration of spies and its importance as a center for special services, it should have the infrastructure of a much larger country," Grozev emphasised.
