In short:
Suspected army spy Kira Korolev has documented a visit to the Woomera military area on an Instagram account which she also uses to monitor Russian news.
Ms Korolev was arrested last week alongside her husband for allegedly attempting to pass sensitive defence information to Moscow.
She also featured in various Defence Force Recruitment materials, which have since been deleted online.
A Russian-born soldier arrested on espionage charges has documented her recent visit to the sensitive Woomera military training area on a social media account that she also uses to monitor news from her country of birth.
More details are emerging of the travels and interests of suspended Australian Army private Kira Korolev, who was arrested last week alongside her husband for allegedly attempting to pass sensitive defence information to Moscow.
In an Instagram post from January last year, the information systems technician shares images from her trip to South Australia, where she visited the highly restricted Woomera facility used by the Australian Defence Force to test weapons and aircraft.
At the time of her visit to the remote facility, the Royal Australian Air Force was conducting secret test flights of the unmanned Ghost Bat aircraft developed by Boeing.
Another post from 2020 includes a series of photos with a caption in Russian explaining “taken about 8 years ago at an abandoned power station” in Perth where Ms Korolev claims she “had to run from security, but it was worth it”.
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The social media account in which “Kira Australia” describes herself as a blogger, has not been updated for over a year but reveals the 40-year-old continues to follow several Russian pages including the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs as well as news sites.
Last week the ABC revealed the now Australian citizen had appeared in several Defence Force recruiting videos which have now been taken offline, including one where she boasted of having no qualifications before joining.
“I was able to join without any prior experience because the army provided full training,” the soldier identified as “Kira” says in the testimonial produced in 2021.
“On a day-to-day basis, I’m administering the system, making sure that the network works well and we don’t have any security breaches,” she says in another video.
“I can meet new people and I can make friends for life. I like to serve the nation, which I love.”
The Department of Defence has confirmed the Defence Force Recruitment (DFR) products were deleted on the same day the soldier was arrested in Brisbane, along with her 62-year-old husband Igor Korolev.
“The DFR products, including videos and images, were removed from the ADF Careers website on 11 July 2024 and are no longer in use,” a spokesperson told the ABC.
Following last week’s arrests, the Russian embassy accused the Albanese government of launching a wave of “anti-Russian paranoia”, prompting the prime minister to warn Moscow to “back off”.