Two Australians accused of spying for Russia have been arrested in Australia, federal police said Friday.
The Russian-born couple, aged 40 and 62, are accused of “obtaining material from the Australian Armed Forces” with the intention of leaking it to Russian authorities, Australian police said in a statement.
According to police, the 40-year-old woman is a soldier in the Australian army.
The couple were arrested at their home in a Brisbane suburb on Thursday, police said.
According to the statement, they have been charged with “each count of preparing an espionage offense, which carries a maximum prison sentence of 15 years.”
The woman allegedly traveled secretly to Russia while on leave from the military. From there, she instructed her husband “on how to log into her official work account and retrieve specific information that he could send directly to her private email account while she was in Russia.”
According to police, “the woman’s ADF account details were used on multiple occasions to access sensitive ADF information, with the aim of providing it to Russian authorities.”
The company said it is still investigating whether sensitive data has reached Russian authorities.
