Three weeks ago, an Ukrainska Pravda film crew was detained by Austrian special forces in central Vienna. Force was used during the detention. The UP journalists were accused of spying on behalf of Ukraine's military intelligence, participating in a criminal group, and thereby causing harm to Austria. These are serious allegations that should be backed by serious evidence.
Over the past three weeks, Ukrainska Pravda's editorial team has been doing everything possible to establish what actually happened in Vienna.
It is worth noting at the outset that our video is based on testimony from Ukrainska Pravda sources and materials from Austrian law enforcement agencies – specifically, materials from an espionage case in which UP journalists may have become involved not by chance, but because some of the subjects of our investigations may have been seeking to obstruct our journalistic work.
The irony is that those who wanted to stop UP from doing its work actually ended up helping us. Had the Austrian authorities not detained our film crew, we would never have gained lawful access to the case files. And we might never have found out which members of Ukraine's Defence Intelligence were operating in Vienna – or what former prosecutor general Ruslan Kravchenko had to do with it.
Ukrainska Pravda believes these materials are of considerable public importance in both Ukraine and Austria. That is why we decided to conduct this investigation.
It is also worth noting that three weeks on, the Austrian law enforcement authorities continue to ignore requests from lawyers representing the Ukrainska Pravda staff and have yet to provide the official records on the journalists' detention and the seizure of their personal belongings and electronic devices.
Find out the first exclusive details in our new investigation, with English subtitles prepared by the Ukrainska Pravda team (German subtitles will be available soon!).
Mykhailo Tkach