PM blasts Russia after shock spy cell charges: Kremlin ‘infiltrates’ ADF
Anthony Albanese sends message after Brisbane couple arrested, accused of accessing classified ADF files with the intention of providing it to Russian authorities.
Anthony Albanese has sent a firm message to Russia after a Brisbane couple were arrested and charged with attempting to send classified defence intelligence to the Kremlin.
The Prime Minister denied having any issues with the Defence recruitment process, saying the charges proved Australia’s intelligence agencies were effective.
“Russia can get the message, back off,” Mr Albanese said on Saturday
“How about you get out of Ukraine and stop the illegal and immoral war that you’re engaged in? And how about you stop interfering in the domestic affairs of other sovereign nations?”
An Australian army private and her labourer husband have been accused of stealing military secrets and trying to hand them to Moscow in an alleged sleeper agent plot.
The Russian-born couple – Kira Korolev, 40, and Igor Korolev, 62 – were charged in Brisbane Magistrates Court on Friday with one count each of preparing to commit an espionage offence.
The alleged spies, who moved to Australia about a decade ago, were arrested on Thursday at their apartment in the Brisbane suburb of Everton Park following a major investigation by the Australian Federal Police and ASIO.
Mr Albanese said Russia had no respect for international law, while downplaying the threat to Australian security as “nimble”.
“I have faith in our national security agencies like I have every faith in our Australian Defence Force relationship.”
“The threats to us are nimble.”
ASIO agents gained access to the couple’s unit at least three months ago as they investigated the alleged espionage, which dates back at least 18 months.
Ms Korolev, who became an Australian citizen in 2016 and worked for several years as an army information systems technician, did not appear in court.
Mr Korolev, an Australian citizen since 2020, appeared barefoot, wearing a prison-issue green jumper and blue tracksuit pants. He required the services of an interpreter.
Police allege Ms Korolev secretly travelled to Russia while on long-term leave from the Australian Defence Force, instructing her husband from abroad to access sensitive files using her official ADF account.
“We allege her husband would access requested material and would send (it) to his wife in Russia,” AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw said. “We allege they sought that information with the intention of providing it to Russian authorities.”
The offences are alleged to have occurred in Brisbane and the Russian Federation between December 6, 2022, and July 11, 2024.
The couple were remanded in custody to appear again on September 20, while the names of five AFP agents involved in the investigation were suppressed by the court. The charges are the first under Australia’s revamped espionage laws introduced in 2018. They carry a maximum 15-year prison term but could be upgraded if a direct link to a foreign controller is proven. Video of the couple’s arrest showed police leading them to four-wheel drive vehicles in a carpark, with their faces blurred.
The pair were active on Facebook, sharing details of their lives in Australia including photos of them commemorating Anzac Day. In a 2020 post, Mr Korolev told a friend online that he and his wife were doing well. “We lived in Melbourne for two years, then in Wodonga, Victoria, and now in Brisbane,” he said. Mr Kershaw said the couple’s alleged criminality had been “disrupted” and “no significant compromise has been identified”.
He declined to say whether the alleged information they obtained was linked to the war in Ukraine.
Authorities briefed their Five Eyes intelligence network counterparts on the case, assuring them they could be confident in Australia’s security settings.
ASIO director-general Mike Burgess said once the alleged espionage was detected, “we were able to control this”. But neither he nor Mr Kershaw would say whether any sensitive information was handed over.
On Friday, Mr Albanese said the arrest of the alleged Russian-Australian spies showed the nation’s security agencies were “amongst the best in the world”.
“We live in uncertain times,” the Prime Minister said, adding those who threatened Australia’s security interests would be “held to account”. “I think we can have a great deal of confidence in the fact that our agencies do their job, and they do it very well,” he said.
The case highlights problems with the nation’s Defence-operated security vetting system, which was the subject of a critical report by the Australian National Audit Office on Thursday.
It found Defence’s management of the system was inadequate, that “data cleansing and migration activities” were ineffective, and that shortcomings in the system’s functionality were identified a decade ago.
Mr Kershaw said investigators were examining how Ms Korolev passed security vetting to secure her army job, while Defence declined to say what level access she was cleared for. It said in a statement that the department took all security breaches seriously, and it indicated that Ms Korolev’s military service had been suspended along with her access to Defence IT systems.
Mr Burgess said investigators were still looking at how long the couple had planned their alleged espionage. But he said foreign intelligence services were capable and determined. “They play the long game. The problem for them is ASIO does too,” he said.
Mr Kershaw said investigators had not identified any other members of the alleged spy ring, and they would examine whether the couple made contact with any Australian-based Russian diplomats. He warned those considering betraying their country by undertaking espionage activities.
“We know who you are; you are likely already exposed. You will get a knock on your door, and it will be either from someone wearing this patch on their shoulder, or from one of our other national security agencies. You will face embarrassment and potentially a very lengthy term of imprisonment,” he said.
Mr Burgess, who revealed in February that a foreign spy ring successfully cultivated and recruited a former Australian politician, warned the nation “cannot be naive and we cannot be complacent” in the face of surging espionage threats.
“Espionage is not some quaint Cold War notion. Espionage damages our economy and degrades our strategic advantage. It has catastrophic real-world consequences,” he said.
Additional reporting: Jack Quail, Sarah Elks
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