After Austria declared two Russian diplomats persona non grata early this week for suspected espionage for the Kremlin (we reported), details have now been leaked. Accordingly, it is likely to involve an officer of the GRU’s military intelligence service and a suspected representative of the SWR’s foreign intelligence service.
In particular, the website ‘The Insider’, specialized in investigative journalism, named Yevgeny A., who has been accredited as an embassy counselor at the Russian Embassy in Vienna since 2020, and Aleksandr G., who has appeared on public lists as “First Embassy Secretary” since 2021 Neither the Russian Embassy nor the Austrian Foreign Ministry would confirm or deny this information to the APA. “We ask for your understanding that we will not comment further on this,” a ministry spokeswoman said on Friday evening.
The espionage expert and author of the article, Sergei Kanev, attributed different relevance to the persons mentioned: while in the case of G. it is only said that he worked in the Moscow reconnaissance center of the GRU before being sent to Austria, the medium A. even saw an ex-resident of a secret service apartment complex, not far from the SWR headquarters in southwest Moscow, as one of the “first violins” on the scene: “A. is responsible for the SWR’s residency in Austria with regard to political education – he deals in particular with local officials, parliamentarians, society representatives and journalists.”
Another “first violin” uncovered?
Other suspected secret service agents at the Russian embassy in Vienna were also mentioned: Another “first fiddle” was Semjon K. of the GRU, who, according to a leaked address database, was reported in the past to the headquarters of this military intelligence service. And Andrej P. used to work in a department of SWR that dealt with disinformation on the internet.
Unwanted people
As it became known on Wednesday, the Austrian Foreign Ministry declared two diplomats from the Russian embassy in Vienna persona non grata at the beginning of this week and asked them to leave Austria before March 19. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs justified that they had taken actions that were incompatible with their diplomatic status. In this context, the Russian ambassador in Vienna, Dmitry Ljubinski, was also summoned to the ministry on Monday.
Moscow is threatening countermeasures
The Russian embassy was subsequently “outraged” by Vienna’s decision, and the Foreign Ministry in Moscow summoned the Austrian ambassador to Moscow, Werner Almhofer, on Thursday and announced countermeasures. It would be conceivable that Moscow would also declare the Austrians persona non grata. According to the Vienna Foreign Ministry, 16 people with diplomatic status recently worked at the Austrian embassy in Moscow, while 60 worked at the bilateral Russian embassy in Vienna and the consulate general in Salzburg.
Source: Krone
I am Wallace Jones, an experienced journalist. I specialize in writing for the world section of Today Times Live. With over a decade of experience, I have developed an eye for detail when it comes to reporting on local and global stories. My passion lies in uncovering the truth through my investigative skills and creating thought-provoking content that resonates with readers worldwide.
