Two Russian-born Australian citizens have been accused of obtaining Australian Defence Force material to share with Russian authorities and consequently charged with espionage-related offences. Identified as a 40-year-old woman who is an ADF Army Private and her husband, 62, a self-employed labourer, the married couple was arrested from their Brisbane home on July 11 and will face the Brisbane Magistrates Court on July 12.
A joint press release from the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) did not disclose the couple’s name. However, The Sydney Morning Herald identifies the couple as Kira Korolev and her husband, Igor Korolev.
The AFP will allege that the pair were working together to obtain sensitive information. While on long-term leave from the ADF, the woman travelled to Russia both with and without her husband without disclosing her travel details.
Additionally, the AFP alleges that while the man remained in Australia, “the woman instructed him on how to log into her official work account and guided him to access specific information to send directly to her private email account while she was in Russia.” Finally, the woman’s ADF account credentials were repeatedly used to “access sensitive ADF information, with the intent to provide it to Russian authorities.”
They were charged with one count each of preparing for an espionage offence with a maximum penalty of 15 years imprisonment. This is also the first time an espionage offence has been laid in Australia since new laws were introduced by the Commonwealth in 2018. The more serious offence of espionage requires a direct evidential link to a foreign principle. Since it’s unclear whether or not the couple leaked any information, further charges could be laid in the future based on the ongoing investigation.
The couple was arrested as part of an Australian law enforcement operation dubbed BURGAZADA. The operation is run by the Counter Foreign Interference Taskforce (CFITF), which includes the ASP, ASIO, and other commonwealth partners.
This is the third time the AFP has charged individuals with espionage or foreign interference-related offences since they were introduced in the Criminal Code Act 1995. The most recent case happened in February 2024, when one person was convicted of “preparing or planning a foreign interference offence,” while another remains before the court charged with reckless foreign interference.
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