Austria is embroiled in its most significant espionage scandal in decades following the arrest of former intelligence officer Egisto Ott, revealing extensive Russian infiltration and lapses in official oversight, Associated Press reports.
The arrest warrant outlines Ott’s activities between 2017 and 2021, during which he allegedly gathered sensitive intelligence on individuals of interest to Russia. This information was then passed on to Jan Marsalek, who is believed to have direct links to the Russian intelligence agency FSB. Ott purportedly accessed national police databases and sought data from Europe’s border-free travel system to assist Marsalek and his associates. Among those targeted were Russian dissidents, business figures, and former FSB officers who had left the organization.
Ott is accused of providing cellphone data of former high-ranking Austrian officials to Russian intelligence, theft of electronic devices used to transfer classified information, orchestrating a burglary of a journalist’s apartment, and even drafting “suggestions for improvement” following a Russian-ordered killing in Germany.
