Historic building in Vienna featuring the Russian flag and nearby church domes, surrounded by trees and urban street elements.

Historic building in Vienna featuring the Russian flag and nearby church domes, surrounded by trees and urban street elements.
Palais Nassau, Russian Embassy in Vienna – Wiki Commons

The Russian embassy in Vienna is reportedly collecting SIGINT.

During the dark days of the Cold War, Vienna became a premier hub for espionage because Austria’s ‘permanent neutrality’ allowed CIA, KGB, MI6, and other agencies to operate with unusual freedom.

Austrian law criminalized spying only against Austria itself, not foreign powers.

While those days are long gone, reports have arisen over the alleged work of signals intelligence (SIGINT) collection operated from the Russian embassy’s ‘antenna forest’.

Yesterday (4), Austria declared three Russian diplomats persona non gratae over spying allegations.

Reuters reported:

“Numerous ‌satellite dishes placed on buildings used by the Russian state in Vienna, particularly a residential complex for diplomatic staff, have long attracted the attention of Austria’s main ​domestic intelligence service, which has warned for years they could be ​used to intercept other states’ satellite communications.

‘It is unacceptable that ⁠diplomatic immunity be used to commit espionage’, Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger said ​in a statement confirming that the three diplomats had already left the ​country. It brings to 14 the number of Russian diplomats Austria has expelled since 2020.”

Tweet discussing Russia's "Russenicity" compound in Vienna, highlighting its significance as a Cold War relic and the ongoing security risks associated with its intelligence operations.

Satellite dish on a rooftop with visible cables and mounting equipment, showcasing urban telecommunications infrastructure.
Image Lukasz Olejnik/X

The Russian embassy in Vienna said that Moscow would react harshly to Austria’s decision, ‘justified by nothing’.

“Asked ‌at ⁠a press conference why the installations posed a particular threat, Sylvia Mayer, head of the main domestic intelligence service, the Directorate for State Security and Intelligence, said only it had to do with their size and nature, ​and did not ​comment on the ⁠timing of the expulsions.

Vienna is a major diplomatic center, hosting the OSCE and United Nations organizations such as the International ​Atomic Energy Agency.”

Read more:

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The post Three Russian Diplomats Expelled from Austria Suspected of Signals Intelligence Spying Through an ‘Antena Forest’ on Top of Embassy appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.