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13-07-2024
MOSCOW: An Australian soldier and her husband have been arrested and each charged with spying for Russia.
Investigators say the couple both Russian-born Australian citizens obtained Australian Defence Force (ADF) material to share with Moscow.
However, Australian police say “no significant compromise” of military secrets has been identified.
It is the first time stricter foreign interference laws – introduced by Australia in 2018 have been used to lay espionage charges.
Kira Korolev, a 40-year-old army private, and her 62-year-old husband Igor Korolev faced court in Brisbane on Friday, each on one count of preparing for an espionage offence which carries a maximum 15-year jail sentence.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he had been “briefed extensively” by the nation’s security agencies but would not comment on the case directly as it is now before the courts.
Australian Federal Police (AFP) Commissioner Reece Kershaw said the couple had been in Australia for more than a decade before the alleged offending and had both become citizens several years ago.
Igor worked as a self-employed laborer, and Kira was an information systems technician in the army, a role for which she had obtained a security clearance, police say.
Kershaw alleged she secretly travelled to Russia while on leave from the ADF, then instructed Igor to access her work account and send sensitive material so that she could forward it on to Russian authorities.
An investigation in to whether any of the material was ever delivered to them is still underway, Kershaw said, adding that the charges could be upgraded.
Both Kershaw and Australia’s spy agency boss Mike Burgess who addressed media together on Friday – declined to answer questions about the nature of the documents or how authorities were tipped off about the alleged crimes but Burgess said that the ongoing threat of espionage is “real”.
“Multiple countries are seeking to steal Australia’s secrets. We cannot be naive, and we cannot be complacent.”
“If you are spying in this country, we are looking for you. If you are being spied on in this country, we are looking out for you,” he added.
Kershaw stressed that Australia’s allies could be “confident” that the country would “continue to identify and disrupt espionage and foreign interference activity”.
The ADF issued a statement earlier on Friday saying it was continuing to work with the Counter Foreign Interference Task-Force.
“In response to serious allegations, it is general practice to suspend an ADF member from service, including immediately cancelling the member’s access to Defence bases and ICT systems,” the statement said.
“As this matter is before the courts and due to personal privacy obligations, Defence will not make further comment.”
Police have confirmed further charges could be laid as the investigation continues.
A more serious offence of espionage requires a direct evidential link to a foreign state, which carries penalties of 25 years to life in jail.
Right now they are facing one count each of preparing for an espionage offence, which carries a maximum penalty of 15 years’ imprisonment.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has praised the efforts of the security agencies. (Int’l Monitoring Desk)
