The Russian Embassy in Australia called the publication about “Russian spies” in the Sydney Morning Herald an attempt to show the work of the Australian intelligence services in the best possible way. This was stated in the diplomatic mission of the Russian Federation in Canberra on February 24.
“Nothing fits this better than the fantasy of how the alleged “Russian spy ring” was successfully eliminated after, of course, months of hard work,” should from the official comment.
According to embassy workers, the security forces go to great lengths to present themselves in the most favorable light. Such stories are usually accompanied by comments that the training of the spies was good, but the secret services distinguished themselves.
Earlier, on February 21, the Director General of the Australian Security and Intelligence Organization (ASIO), Mike Burges, delivered an annual report, where he said that over the past year his employees had identified and expelled a “hive of spies” from Australia, writes Sydney Morning Herald. At the same time, the specific countries whose spies were discussed were not named.
The day before, the same Australian newspaper published article that over the past six months, individuals in Russia’s “spy circle” have been “expelled from Australia and their visas have been canceled” as a result of ASIO’s counter-espionage efforts.
On February 23, the Polish prosecutor’s office accused a Russian who permanently resides in the country of espionage. The investigation adheres to the version that he deliberately sought acquaintances among the country’s military personnel. According to the prosecutor’s office, the information collected by the Russian concerned the location of individual military units in Poland, their command structure, the number of staff and salaries of soldiers, as well as the types of equipment and weapons used, and the rules for communication and interaction in the troops.
Prior to that, on December 22, 2022, it became known about the detention of a German intelligence officer in Berlin on suspicion of working for the Russian Federation.
