- Married Russian couple accused of espionage
- Brisbane woman served in the Australian Army
Spy chiefs have arrested a Russian couple with Australian nationality and accused them of spying for Vladimir Putin’s regime in Moscow.
The woman is a soldier in the Australian Armed Forces, but is alleged to have attempted to share top-secret information with Russian authorities during illegal travel abroad.
The woman is 40 years old and her husband is 62. They were arrested at their Everton Park home in Brisbane on Thursday morning.
They have each been charged with preparing an espionage offence, which carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison. They will appear in Brisbane District Court later on Friday.
According to the AFP, the individuals worked together to gain access to Australian Defence Force material relating to Australia’s national security interests.
We allege that the woman made an undeclared journey to “Russia, while she was on extended leave from the Australian Armed Forces,” AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw said.
‘We allege that while in Russia she gave her husband, who remained in Australia, instructions on how to log into her official work account from their home in Brisbane.
ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess revealed details of the arrests during a joint press conference with the Australian Federal Police on Friday morning
“We allege that her husband would have access to the requested material and would send it to his wife in Russia. We allege that they requested that information with the intention of providing it to the Russian authorities.
‘Whether that information was transferred remains an important focus of our investigation.’
The spies insisted they intervened before any alleged breach occurred and warned that more arrests could follow.
“My warning is that we know who you are, you’ve probably already been exposed,” he said.
‘There’s a knock on your door and it could be someone with this patch on their shoulder, or it could be one of our other national security agencies.
“You will face shame and possibly a very long prison sentence.”
ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess revealed the two have been Australian citizens since 2016 (the woman) and since 2020 (the man).
She had served in the Australian Army for “several years” as an information systems technician, he revealed.
It is the first time espionage charges have been filed since federal laws were enacted in 2018.
According to Mr Burgess, many countries tried to steal classified Australian information.
“Espionage is not an outdated Cold War idea. Espionage harms our economy and undermines our strategic advantage,” he said.
“It could have catastrophic consequences in the real world.”
More to come.
