Russian diplomats leave land in Canberra on June 26, 2023, after Russia’s attempt to build a new embassy near Australia’s parliament received a legal blow when the Supreme Court upheld the government’s attempt to seize the land.
Yoann Cambefort | AFP | Getty Images
Russia has accused Australia of stoking “anti-Russian paranoia” by charging a Russia-born couple with espionage, and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Saturday told Moscow to “stand off”.
The Australian Federal Police said on Friday that the couple, both Australian nationals, were arrested on suspicion of attempting to access material related to Australia’s national security, but no significant breaches were identified.
“It has been reported that the couple, Kira and Igor Korolyov, holding Russian and Australian nationality, have been arrested in Brisbane on suspicion of attempting to spy for Russia,” the Russian embassy in the capital, Canberra, said in a statement to Russia’s state news agency RIA on Friday.
“The objective of this campaign is clear: to stoke new anti-Russia fears at home and distract Australians from the numerous failures of the ruling Labor party’s policies,” the embassy said.
Albanese told reporters on Saturday that Russia needed to “stop interfering in the internal affairs of other sovereign states.”
“Russia gets the message: Stand back. Russia is spying here and around the world,” Albanese said in Brisbane, the Queensland state capital, according to the minutes.
Australia, one of Ukraine’s biggest non-NATO backers since Russia’s 2022 invasion of the country, announced a A$250 million ($170 million) military aid package for Kyiv on Thursday at a NATO summit in Washington.
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported on Saturday that the embassy had requested written information from Australian authorities about the couple’s situation and was considering “appropriate consular assistance measures”.
The embassy did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
The Korolyov brothers appeared in Brisbane Magistrates Court on Friday charged with one count of conspiring to commit espionage, which carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison, according to court documents. The charges are the first to be brought under a law introduced in 2018.
They did not apply for bail and were remanded in custody until their next court appearance on September 20, according to reports.
Police said the wife, 40, an information systems technician with the Australian Army, travelled to Russia and instructed her husband in Australia to log into her official account to access defence material.
Canberra has banned defence equipment suppliers to Kiev, exports of aluminium ore to Russia and imposed sanctions on more than 1,000 Russian individuals and entities.
