Two Ukrainians suspected of working for military intelligence remanded in custody in Vienna
Der Standard has reported that two men suspected of working for Ukraine's military intelligence were arrested in Vienna on Monday 5 October and remanded in custody on Wednesday 7 October on suspicion of espionage. The report came as news broke of the separate detention of Mykhailo Tkach, head of investigative journalism at Ukrainska Pravda, and cameraman Yaroslav Bondarenko on Thursday 8 October.
Source: European Pravda, citing Austrian media outlet Der Standard
Details: The two men alleged to be Ukrainian military intelligence operatives were detained in Vienna on Monday. The regional court ruled on Wednesday that they should be remanded in custody.
Christina Salzborn, a spokesperson for the court, said on Friday that the grounds for remanding the two men in custody were the risk of further offending, tampering with evidence and absconding. The remand order is initially valid until 21 October.
Both men deny the charges.
Der Standard said it is not known how long the two Ukrainians suspected of spying have been in Austria or how law enforcement officers tracked them down. The authorities stated on Friday afternoon that this is the subject of an ongoing investigation.
The investigation is being conducted by Austria's Directorate State Protection and Intelligence Service (DSN). The suspected offence is espionage on behalf of a foreign intelligence service to the detriment of Austria (Section 256 of the Austrian Criminal Code).
Background:
- On 8 October, it was reported that Mykhailo Tkach had been detained in Vienna while carrying out an assignment from the editorial team involving tracking down the fugitive former prosecutor general Ruslan Kravchenko.
- The Austrian Interior Ministry said Tkach was detained on suspicion of espionage, which has not been confirmed.
- On 9 October, Ukrainska Pravda editor-in-chief Sevğil Musaieva reported that Tkach had been released after being detained in Vienna, but the editorial team was unable to contact him, and that cameraman Yaroslav Bondarenko was injured during the detention.
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