A Russian spymaster boasted in messages to his spy ringleader that he played a role in bringing down Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, a new investigation has revealed.
The communications, found within confidential Austrian police records, show Jan Marsalek telling Orlin Roussev that an operation had “successfully toppled” the chancellor, who resigned in October 2021 amid corruption allegations.
Roussev was later convicted and imprisoned in Britain for espionage.
Should Marsalek’s assertions prove accurate, they would represent direct Russian state interference in the political leadership of an EU member state.
Multiple security agencies have long assessed that the Kremlin actively seeks to destabilise European governments.
Marsalek has been among the world’s most wanted fugitives since fleeing in June 2020, when Wirecard imploded with a £1.6billion shortfall.
British police have described his espionage activities as operating on an “industrial” scale, and he is sought for fraud across multiple European nations, including his native Austria.
It has since emerged that he spent over a decade working for the Kremlin, and at the time of the messages was based in Moscow, primarily serving Vladimir Putin’s Federal Security Service.
Now revealed by the Telegraph, Marsalek wrote under the alias “Rupert Ticz” on October 22 2021 that “we’ve successfully toppled” the chancellor “by confiscating the mobile phone” of the person “who’s managing their secret campaign financing”.
He then reportedly shared a link concerning corruption allegations against Mr Kurz and the seized device belonging to Thomas Schmid, a close associate of the chancellor and former senior finance ministry official.
Austrian investigators examining the exchanges concluded that “Marsalek stated unequivocally that ‘they’ had ‘toppled’ the chancellor in a successful operation” and that he “admitted to Roussev that he had been involved in the confiscation of this mobile phone”.
However, the files contain no independent evidence confirming that Marsalek actually orchestrated the seizure of Schmid’s device, which took place in November 2019, nearly two years before his messages to Roussev.
Investigators also noted uncertainty over whether his reference to “the guy” who had worked “for us” meant Wirecard or a Russian intelligence service.
The probe remains active, according to the documents.
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Mr Kurz declined to comment to the Telegraph during their investigation.
Sources close to him told the publication he had always considered the allegations politically motivated and was taken aback to learn of a possible Russian connection.
Sir Iain Duncan Smith, co-chairman of the all-party parliamentary group on Magnitsky sanctions, said the findings demonstrated how “brazen” Russia had become.
He told the Telegraph: “They don’t even care if people believe they are doing it. They think we are very weak on it all, that we can’t retaliate so they just have free rein.”
Labour defence select committee member Graeme Downie called the revelations “worrying”.
He added: “Ultimately, Putin’s strategic goal is to fundamentally split democracies from each other.”
Robert Clark of the Washington-based Yorktown Institute noted that Vienna housed one of Europe’s largest Russian diplomatic contingents, over 500 personnel, many of whom serve as undercover intelligence operatives.
Ed Arnold of RUSI cautioned that Marsalek could be “overplaying his hand”.
He suggested: “If you want to make a name for yourself in this world as some kind of fixer, you need some kudos.”
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