Austria has declared four Russian diplomats personae non gratae and ordered them to leave the country. The decision was made based on information from Austrian security services about the activities of Russian representatives incompatible with their diplomatic status.
This was reported on October 23 by the Austrian broadcaster ORF, citing the Austrian Foreign Ministry.
Among those expelled are three employees of the Russian embassy in Vienna and one representative of the Russian delegation to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
According to Tiroler Tageszeitung, the diplomat at the OSCE was part of the Russian delegation on military security and arms control.
Three embassy staff members were declared undesirable persons in accordance with Article 9 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. A similar decision regarding the representative to the OSCE was made on the basis of rules governing the activities of international organizations in Austria.
The Austrian Foreign Ministry did not disclose the specific actions that led to the expulsions. At the same time, local media link the decision to suspicions of espionage.
Austrian military were previously warned about Russian agents
As reported by Tiroler Tageszeitung, citing an investigation by Profil magazine, back in August the Austrian Ministry of Defense warned regular army soldiers and reservists about possible attempts by Russian agents to establish contacts.
The ministry circulated a list of 21 individuals whose data had previously appeared in materials by the Russian independent outlet “Proekt”. Austrian security services, according to journalists, had been monitoring some of these people for some time.
After the warning, the military passed on additional information about possible contacts. According to Profil, the three Russian diplomats now being expelled were on this list.
At the same time, Austrian authorities did not announce criminal charges against the expelled diplomats.
Russia threatened a response
Moscow has already stated that it will react to Vienna’s decision. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Dmitry Lyubinsky said that retaliatory measures will be inevitable. The Russian side has not yet named concrete steps.
This is the second expulsion of Russian diplomats from Austria in 2026.
As previously reported by “Kurs Ukrainy”, in May Austrian authorities expelled three Russian embassy employees on suspicion of using antenna systems at diplomatic facilities to intercept satellite data.
With the new decision, the number of Russian diplomats expelled by Austria since 2020 has reached 18.
