Austria probing Russian disinformation campaign

Ukrinform received the report from the Austrian Federal Ministry of the Interior.

"The State Protection and Intelligence Directorate (DSN) in a press release informed the media in detail and as transparently as possible about the investigation into the espionage case related to the large-scale Russian disinformation campaign. Due to the fact that the case is currently being handled by the Vienna prosecutor's office, and also given that the inquiry is still ongoing, we are unfortunately unable to provide answers to individual clarifications or questions regarding the circumstances or details of the probe," the Interior Ministry reported.

The enquiry sent to the Austrian Ministry of the Interior contained a request to report on the identified "offline actions" that were carried out by Russian assets as part of the disinformation campaign and which were intended to create the impression that their authors and creators were pro-Ukrainian activists. In this context, it was asked whether the incident in May 2022 where graffiti on a blue-and-yellow wall behind the memorial complex to the Red Army soldiers in Vienna was part of that campaign. Then, someone painted a sign on the wall that looked like the runic symbol "Wolf's Hook" ("Wolfsängel"), leaving the inscription "A$OV" next to it. The incident was also exploited by the Russian embassy in Austria to claim that "Ukrainian radicals" were allegedly behind the action and to accuse the Austrian side of "tacit appeasement toward Ukrainian nationalists and their accomplices".

As Ukrinform reported earlier, the Austrian State Security and Intelligence Agency (DSN), while investigating the case of a Bulgarian citizen suspected of spying for Russia, has exposed a large-scale Russian disinformation campaign run in the country to manipulating public and political opinion in Russia’s interest and to the detriment of Ukraine.

According to the agency, a group recruited by Russian intelligence was activated just a few weeks after the Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In early 2022, the cell started planning a large-scale disinformation campaign in German-speaking countries with a particular focus on Austria.

As stated by the DSN, the direct goal of the disinformation campaign was to sway public opinion in Austria against Ukraine and President Volodymyr Zelensky. To this end, Russian assets turned to the media space, online platforms, and "offline actions, involving stickers or graffiti".

The visual design and content of the actions carried out by Russian assets "was intended to create the impression that their authors and creators were pro-Ukrainian activists".