Embassy in Australia Embassy ● Roster captured ● host list

ABC News reported on July 13th that “the prime minister has rejected Russian criticism of the arrests of two of its former citizens on espionage charges, telling the Kremlin to “back off”. Speaking in Brisbane on Saturday, Anthony Albanese said Russia had “no credibility” after engaging in “espionage around the world”. “Russia can get the message: Back off,” he said. Kira Korolev, 40, and her husband Igor Korolev, 62, were arrested on Friday at their home in the Brisbane suburb of Everton Park. The two Russian-born Australian citizens became the first people charged with espionage offences under foreign interference laws introduced in 2018. On Friday evening the Russian embassy in Australia released a statement on X saying the joint AFP and ASIO media conference announcing the arrests was “clearly intended to launch another wave of anti-Russian paranoia in Australia”. The embassy said “theatrical tricks” were used and that “imaginary ‘Russian spies’” were presumed to be everywhere within Australia. Mr Albanese said he had a clear message for Russian authorities in the wake of the espionage allegations. “How about you try to stop interfering in domestic affairs of other sovereign nations,” he said. “This is a country that has no respect for international law and they should be regarded with contempt, which is what I have for them.” Ms Korolev was working as an information systems technician with the Australian Army before being accused of spying for Russia.”

BBC reported on June 16th that “Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said intelligence agencies had given “very clear security advice” on the move. Laws specifically drafted to halt construction were rapidly passed on Thursday after legal attempts to block the Canberra development failed. The Kremlin said it was “yet another unfriendly action” which Russia would “take into account” in the future. Australia was following the “Russophobic hysteria that is now going on in the countries of the collective West”, said spokesman Dmitry Peskov. A Russian diplomat earlier told AFP that the embassy was seeking legal advice. The new legislation acknowledges that Russia may be eligible for financial compensation. The current embassy will not be affected by the new laws, which have bipartisan support. Moscow currently holds the lease for a patch of land, acquired in 2008, some 400 metres (0.25 miles) from Canberra’s Parliament House. It has been laying the foundations for a new embassy building, but construction has proceeded slowly. As relations between Australia and Russia soured in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine, the former moved to rescind permission for the new building. A previous attempt to cancel the lease was thrown out by the federal court last month, prompting the new legislation. The laws took less than five minutes to be introduced, and passed through the House of Representatives. “We don’t expect Russia is in a position to talk about international law, given their rejection of it so consistently and so brazenly with their invasion of Ukraine,” said Mr Albanese, who condemned Russia’s “illegal and immoral” invasion of Ukraine. Former UK diplomat Alex Bristow of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, told AFP that Russia has some of the “largest, most capable, most aggressive, and least constrained intelligence services” in the world. “Given the proximity, it could be a form of electronic surveillance operating out of the embassy,” he added.”

The Sydney Morning Herald reported on February 24th that “a highly active “hive” of Russian spies posing as diplomats operated in Australia for more than 18 months before it was dismantled as part of a sweeping and aggressive counter-espionage offensive by ASIO. The Australian intelligence agency spent months tracking the Russian spy ring, which comprised purported embassy and consular staff and operatives using other deep cover identities, before ASIO finally moved to force the ring’s key players out of Australia, according to sources with knowledge of its operation. ASIO director-general Mike Burgess described the spying operation in a major speech he delivered in Canberra on Tuesday, but did not name Russia. Sources confirmed ASIO had uncovered the spy ring operating out of a number of locations, including the Russian embassy in Canberra, while the Morrison government was in power. The spy ring’s aim was to recruit Australians with access to classified information and, according to one source with knowledge of the Russians’ activity, use sophisticated technology to steal data and communicate without being intercepted. Rather than press for the expulsion of Russian embassy staff after President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine — a move that occurred in other Western nations and which was sought by some within Australia’s intelligence community and Labor in early 2022 — ASIO instead conducted a clandestine counter-espionage probe.”