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VIENNA (AP) \u2014 Austrian authorities said Monday that they uncovered a Russian-steered campaign aimed at spreading disinformation about Ukraine following the detention in December of a Bulgarian woman accused of spying for Russia.<\/p>\n
Austria’s domestic intelligence agency unearthed evidence of the operation as it analyzed devices found in a search of the woman’s home, the Interior Ministry said in a statement. It said the investigation showed that a few weeks after Russia launched its full-scale invasion<\/a> of Ukraine in 2022, a cell working for Russian intelligence was set up and planned a large-scale disinformation campaign in German-speaking countries, particularly Austria.<\/p>\n The group was active online but also used stickers and graffiti with content such as far-right symbols and nationalist statements meant to look like pro-Ukrainian activists were responsible for them, according to the Interior Ministry.<\/p>\n The Bulgarian suspect, whose name wasn’t released, is believed to have played a significant role in the effort and acted as an intelligence contact, the ministry said, adding that she has admitted working for the cell, particularly in 2022.<\/p>\n A year ago, Austria’s biggest espionage scandal<\/a> in decades erupted with the arrest of a former Austrian intelligence officer, who was accused among other things of handing over cellphone data of former high-ranking Austrian officials to Russian intelligence and helping plot a burglary at a prominent journalist\u2019s apartment.<\/p>\n The ex-officer, who was later released from custody, is suspected of having provided sensitive information to Jan Marsalek, a fugitive fellow Austrian<\/a> wanted on suspicion of fraud since the collapse in 2020 of German payment company Wirecard<\/a>, where he was the chief operating officer. The arrest warrant said chat messages provided by British authorities link Marsalek directly to Russia’s FSB intelligence agency.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n