Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who is on trial on spying charges, smiles inside an enclosure for defendants before a court hearing in Yekaterinburg, Russia.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov blamed American journalists on July 18 for delaying talks between his U.S. counterparts about a possible prisoner exchange involving imprisoned Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich.

A day before Mr. Gershkovich is scheduled to appear in court on espionage charges, Mr. Lavrov told a U.N. news conference that confidential negotiations are still “ongoing.” Mr. Gershkovich, the Journal and the U.S. vehemently deny the allegations against him and denounced the trial as a sham and illegitimate.

On March 29, 2023, Mr. Gershkovich was arrested while on a reporting trip in Yekaterinburg, a city in the Ural Mountains. He is being charged with espionage, but Russian authorities have not offered any evidence that he was gathering secret information for the United States.

If convicted, he will face up to 20 years in prison, although Russia has indicated that they are open to a prisoner swap after a verdict.

Russian courts convict more than 99% of defendants. Prosecutors can appeal sentences that they consider to be too lenient, and they even can appeal acquittals.

Sydney:

The head of Australia’s main intelligence agency on Wednesday revealed the existence of an “A-Team” of foreign spies that for several years has recruited Australian academics, politicians and businesspeople, gaining access to sensitive political, economic and defence information.

In an extremely rare public revelation of counterespionage operations, Mike Burgess, Australia’s director-general of security, revealed the existence of the unit, belonging to an unnamed country, in a bid to disrupt ongoing operations.

“Right now there is a particular team in a particular foreign intelligence service with a particular focus on Australia — we are its priority target,” Burgess said in a speech in Canberra.

“We call them ‘the A-team’ — the Australia team.”

“Many of the people here tonight are almost certainly high-value targets. The team is aggressive and experienced; its tradecraft is good — but not good enough,” he said.

Burgess, who runs the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), said the unit had targeted Australians with access to “privileged information” on social networking sites using “false, anglicised personas” and promising cash rewards.

“The spies pose as consultants, head-hunters, local government officials, academics and think tank researchers, claiming to be from fictional companies such as Data 31,” he said.

“If a target takes the bait, the spies try to move the conversation onto an encrypted messaging app. A further step might involve the offer of an overseas trip to meet in person.”

He outlined examples of when the approach had been successful, gleaning information from an academic and an unnamed former politician who “sold out their country, party and former colleagues to advance the interests of the foreign regime”.

“At one point, the former politician even proposed bringing a prime minister’s family member into the spies’ orbit,” he said.

– Spy vs Spy –

Explaining why he had declassified information about the unit, its operations, and the counterespionage measures taken against it, Burgess said he wanted to warn Australians of the risks.

“On just one professional networking site, there are 14,000 Australians publicly boasting about having a security clearance or working in the intelligence community. Some even out themselves as intelligence officers,” he said. 

Australia is a member of the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing group that includes the United States, Britain, Canada and New Zealand — making it a juicy target for operatives from countries such as China and Russia.

But Burgess said he also wanted to let the other country know that its spies had been rumbled and that the unit’s team leader had been confronted by Australia’s own spies.

“We want the A-team to know its cover is blown. We want the A-team’s bosses to know its cover is blown,” he said.

“If the team leader failed to report our conversation to his spymasters, he will now have to explain why he didn’t, along with how ASIO knows so much about his team’s operations and identities.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

The families of eight former Indian Navy personnel who have been sentenced to death in Qatar have categorically denied that the men had anything to do with espionage and pointed out that there has been no “proof of allegations” from the country. 

The veterans, who were arrested last year, are Captain Navtej Singh Gill, Captain Birendra Kumar Verma, Captain Saurabh Vasisht, Commander Amit Nagpal, Commander Purnendu Tiwari, Commander Sugunakar Pakala, Commander Sanjeev Gupta and Sailor Ragesh Gopakumar. They worked for a private firm, Dahra Global Technologies and Consultancy Services, which provided training and other services for Qatar’s armed forces.

While the details of the October 26 verdict against the eight men by the Court of First Instance in Qatar are still not clear, reports have suggested that they had been convicted of spying for Israel on a submarine project. In a statement to NDTV, the families of the seven former officers and one sailor have denied all the allegations. 

“The eight ex-Indian Naval officers were not engaged in espionage for Israel. They went to build the Qatari navy and build that nation’s security. They could never spy. There are no allegations or proof of allegations from Qatar,” the statement said, adding that none of them were associated with any submarine program when working at Dahra Global. 

Some of the men were decorated officers and had commanded warships during their time at the Indian Navy. Pointing to their impeccable record, the statement added, “All the men have had distinguished service with full integrity and represented the nation with high honour while serving in the Indian Navy.” 

The eight men were arrested in August 2022 and have been in custody for the most part as their bail applications had been rejected several times. The government, which had said it was “deeply shocked” by the verdict, has been working with the Qatar government to free the former Navy personnel. 

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met the families of the men on Monday and said that he shares their pain and concern. In a post on X, formerly Twitter, the foreign minister had said, “Met this morning with the families of the 8 Indians detained in Qatar. Stressed that Government attaches the highest importance to the case. Fully share the concerns and pain of the families. Underlined that Government will continue to make all efforts to secure their release. Will coordinate closely with the families in that regard.”

On the same day, Navy Chief Admiral Hari Kumar had also said that the Centre was making every effort to secure the release of the Navy veterans.