According to a report by Reuters on October 9th, Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Kahn stated that four Ukrainians were arrested in Vienna this week for suspected espionage activities. The Ukrainian newspaper 'Ukrainian Truth' reported that two members of its team were among the detained individuals.
Kana stated that three of them are still in custody, but due to the ongoing investigation, he refused to provide any further details.
According to a statement by the spokesperson of the Ukrainian Embassy in Vienna, cited by the Austrian Press Agency APA, the embassy is awaiting explanations from the Austrian authorities regarding the circumstances and legal grounds for the arrest.
"Ukraine Truth Newspaper" Editor Severyana Musaeva posted on Facebook saying that investigative journalist Mikhail Tkachenko was detained for over 12 hours in Vienna before being released on August 8th.
Mussayeva said, ‘However, his communication equipment has not yet been returned, so the editorial department cannot contact him directly at this time.’ She also mentioned that the cameraman Yaroslav Bondarenko was injured during the detention period.
She added, “At present, we are unclear about the legal status of the two journalists in question.”
According to a statement from the spokesperson of the Vienna Prosecutor's Office, published in the Austrian magazine 'Seiten', photographer Bondalenko will be released soon.
The magazine states that two other men were arrested on the 5th, suspected of engaging in espionage activities for the Ukrainian intelligence agency. They will remain in detention while further investigations continue.
