Austria says espionage suspicions against Ukrainian journalists have not been substantiated

Austria's Interior Minister Gerhard Karner confirmed on October 9 that four Ukrainian nationals had been detained in Vienna this week on suspicion of espionage, according to Austrian newspaper Kleine Zeitung, citing the Austrian Press Agency (APA).

Two suspects detained earlier in the week are being held in pretrial detention. Tkach and Bondarenko were detained separately on October 8, the minister said.

Vienna prosecutor's office spokesperson Nina Bussek told APA that suspicions concerning the two additional individuals had emerged during another investigation but had not been substantiated.

One of the two had been released, while questioning of the other was continuing. Bussek said the suspicion against the second individual also appeared unlikely to be substantiated.

Tkach, who heads the investigative journalism department at Ukrainian outlet Ukrainska Pravda, was released at approximately 4 a.m. on October 9 after more than 12 hours in custody, according to the outlet's editor-in-chief, Sevgil Musaieva.

Bondarenko remained detained as of the Austrian interior minister's statement.

Musaieva previously said the cameraman had been injured during his detention and had received hospital treatment. She said his questioning had only begun overnight.

The editor-in-chief also reported that Tkach's communication devices had not been returned, preventing the newsroom from contacting him directly.

“The accusations made against our colleagues during their detention are unlike anything our newsroom has encountered before and raise serious questions,” Musaieva said.

Ukrainska Pravda has demanded an explanation from Austrian authorities concerning the grounds for the journalists' detention, Bondarenko's injury and their legal status.

A spokesperson for the Ukrainian Embassy in Vienna also told APA that the embassy expected a prompt official explanation from Austrian law enforcement authorities.

Tkach and Bondarenko were in Vienna on an editorial assignment investigating the whereabouts of former Ukrainian Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko, according to Ukrainska Pravda.

Tkach is one of Ukraine's best-known investigative journalists, whose reporting has frequently focused on senior officials, politically connected business figures and Ukrainian officials who left the country during Russia's full-scale invasion.

Austrian authorities have not publicly specified what actions prompted the initial espionage suspicions against the journalists or explained the circumstances of Bondarenko's reported injury.