WSJ received even more evidence that the Russian pilot Maxim Kuzmin in Spain was killed by order of the Russian special services.
For murder of Russian pilot Maxim Kuzminov, who stole a Mi-8 helicopter for Ukraine, the killers received money from Russian civil servants in Vienna.
The Wall Street Journal reports this, citing sources in Western intelligence services.
More than a dozen officials from Austria, other European countries and the United States with whom journalists spoke generally say that Vienna has become a “base” for Russia’s underground operational activities. Among other things, these operatives coordinate financial and logistical support for assassinations, sabotage and recruitment throughout Europe.
According to Austrian intelligence interlocutors, over the past two years the number of Russian officials working in Austria has grown from about 400 to more than 500. About half of them are diplomats and people with managerial functions, and about half act as de facto spies .
Russians from the Russian Consulate in Munich moved to Austria among them when it was closed. Among them, it is believed, were several spies.
Russian diplomatic missions in Vienna work in about 40 buildings, with a variety of observation equipment installed on their roofs.
Intelligence agencies suspect that Russian operatives in Austria are also involved in tracking the logistics of Western military aid to Ukraine. Also, Russian officials in Vienna allegedly paid a fee to the killers of a Russian pilot who cooperated with Ukraine and stole a Mi-8 helicopter in exchange for a large reward, and was later found murdered in Spain.
Also, according to Austrian intelligence, Russia is transferring large sums of cash to Austria by land, and then Russian diplomats in Austria are transporting this money all over Europe, often in their personal belongings, which the police cannot check.
“We are becoming a problem for our neighbors, because Russia is using us as an operational base,” an anonymous source in Austrian intelligence stated.
The problem does not go unnoticed among politicians either. Opposition MP Stefanie Krisper from the relevant committee noted that the Austrian government must put an end to the “extremely dangerous inaction” regarding the actions of Russian spies, because in fact it undermines attempts to weaken Russian influence in Europe.
At the same time, the Austrian Interior Ministry comments that it considers the country one of the safest, since its security structures are very effective.
A spokeswoman for the ministry said that intelligence is aware of the threat of Russian spies and influence operations, and that these threats are countered within the limits defined by law.
Espionage is not actually prohibited in Austria, as long as it is not directed against Austria itself. A spokeswoman for the Austrian Foreign Ministry commented that Vienna would support the expulsion of diplomats who violate the law when there is sufficient evidence to do so.
Recall, Russian pilot Maxim Kuzminov, who in the summer of 2023 during the operation of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense ferried a Russian Mi-8 helicopter to the territory of Ukraine, was found dead in Spain on February 19.
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