Austria’s interior
ministry said on Thursday it had put Russian national Igor Zaitsev, 65, on the
international wanted list on suspicion of spying for Russia’s military
intelligence.
MOSCOW, July 26.
/TASS/. Austria’s submission of Russian national Igor Zaitsev to the
international wanted list on suspicion of spying for Russia’s military
intelligence against Austria is an attempt to revive the hysteria around
Russian spies, the Russian Foreign Ministry told TASS on Friday.
"We deeply regret
that there are those who seek to revive last November’s ‘hot topic’ about
Russian spies in Austria, which we thought has been resolved with our Austrian
partners. At least, all our bilateral contacts with the Austrian leadership
have been held in this atmosphere in the recent months," the ministry
said.
"Notably, the
accusations are worded in the notorious ‘highly likely’ style. Since such fakes
are never meant to initiate a serious conversation, we see no point in
commenting on them," the ministry stressed.
Austria’s interior
ministry said on Thursday it had put Russian national Igor Zaitsev, 65, on the
international wanted list on suspicion of spying for Russia’s General Staff
Main Directorate, formerly known as the Main Intelligence Directorate, or GRU.
The arrest warrant was issued by the Salzburg prosecutor’s office, which
suspects Zaitsev of recruiting the retired Austrian colonel who was arrested in
2018 and charged with leaking secret information to Russia. Austrian police
claim that the Russian national, a senior GRU officer, is suspected of
coordinating the activities of the retired Austrian army officer to spy against
Austria since 1987.
Source: ITAR-TASS
27-07-2019
