Austria detains Ukrainians on spying fears
- Two Ukrainians remain detained in Austria on suspicion of espionage; Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said investigations are underway and gave few details.
- Two Ukrainian journalists arrested Thursday are being released; one freed after more than 12 hours, the other was injured during arrest and hospitalized.
- APA reported two suspects allegedly from Ukrainian military intelligence; prosecutors said suspicions are unconfirmed and authorities declined to give details.
- Ukrainska Pravda condemned the detentions; RSF and Ukraine’s foreign ministry demand clarification and protection of journalists, equipment, and sources.
Two Ukrainians are being held on suspicion of espionage in Austria, authorities said on Friday, while two Ukrainian journalists also arrested in the case are being released.
The Ukrainian paper employing the journalists said one of them had been injured when they were both arrested on Thursday and had been admitted to hospital.
Two other suspects, arrested on Monday, remain in custody on suspicions of “espionage”, Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said.
“Investigations are currently underway,” he told reporters, declining to give further details.
Austrian news agency APA reported the two men were allegedly members of Ukrainian military intelligence.
A spokeswoman for the prosecutor’s office told AFP the two journalists were detained on Thursday on “suspicions that have not been confirmed”.
“One has already been released and the second will be,” she said.
The two work for Ukrainian daily Ukrainska Pravda, which has condemned their arrests.
“The charges brought against our colleagues during their detention are unlike anything our editorial team has dealt with before and raise serious questions,” the paper said, demanding “explanations” from Austrian law enforcement authorities.
Ukrainska Pravda said journalist Mykhailo Tkach, head of its investigative journalism team, had been freed early on Thursday “after more than 12 hours in custody in Vienna”.
His colleague, cameraman Yaroslav Bondarenko, was injured during his arrest and was hospitalised, editor-in-chief Sevgil Musaieva said on Facebook.
“The police did not begin questioning him until late at night,” she said of Bondarenko.
Tkach was detained in Vienna while on an editorial assignment related to the search for former Ukrainian prosecutor general Ruslan Kravchenko, who is on the run, the paper said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky fired Kravchenko last month.
He has been accused of taking bribes, allegations he refutes.
Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders said the two Ukrainian journalists were “subjected to a violent police arrest in Vienna”.
“RSF calls on the authorities to shed full light on these events and to ensure the protection of their equipment and sources,” the NGO said on X.
Ukraine’s foreign ministry said it was “continuing to work to clarify the circumstances of the detention” and was in touch with the Austrian foreign ministry.
