Australian dual citizen facing foreign interference charges
A dual citizen is facing foreign interference charges after being accused of trying to provide information about Ukrainian military operations to Russian intelligence services.
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) has charged a 27-year-old Russian Australian man with foreign interference. The suspect, arrested in Brisbane's Sumner suburb, claims residency in Victoria. He is set to appear in Brisbane Magistrates Court today, charged with attempting to engage in intentional foreign interference. This marks the second time Russia has been accused of orchestrating foreign interference in Australia.
In 2024, Russian-born Australian citizens Kira and Igor Korolev were arrested for attempting to gather and send state secrets to Russia, with charges upgraded to conspiracy to commit espionage. Additionally, ASIO recently revealed a hive of spies from an unnamed country attempting to covertly recruit Australians and steal sensitive information in 2022.
Multiple media outlets later reported Russia as the orchestrator of this network. This follows the UK's expulsion of two Russian diplomats in 2018 for allegedly being undeclared intelligence operatives, and the Australian government's $1.8 billion in military, economic, and humanitarian support to Ukraine since Russia's invasion.
Written by urgent.news from ABC News AU's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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