00:02Yeah, quite a complex investigation, Joe, and it's taken the police quite a bit of time,
00:07you'd suspect, to piece this all together. But what they're alleging is that this gentleman,
00:1127 years of age, whose name, according to the court reporters who were there, is Vladimir
00:17Tezlov, made an attempt to essentially help Russian intelligence in the war in Ukraine.
00:24Now this apparently happened a few years ago. He was in Australia, the 27-year-old. Then
00:29he made a trip to Russia, according to the AFP, where he engaged in military training.
00:34He then came back to Australia, but maintained links with people that he believed were Russian
00:39intelligence. And then after a while, he then actually travelled back to Ukraine where, according
00:45to the AFP, he actually joined the Ukrainian rather than the Russian army. In other words,
00:50he apparently tried to infiltrate the Ukrainian armed forces. While he was there, police say
00:57that he then tried to pass on information to people who he believed worked for the Russian
01:02state, specifically for Russian intelligence agencies, including movements, information
01:07about troop movements and other military intelligence. Let's take a listen briefly to Chrissy Barrett,
01:12the AFP commissioner, stepping through some of the allegations that police are making.
01:18In October 2024, the man travelled to Russia and allegedly undertook military style training
01:25before returning to Australia in December 2024. In Australia, it is alleged the man maintained
01:33contact with individuals he believed were connected to Russian intelligence services. Investigators will
01:41allege the man then travelled to Ukraine in May 2025, where he joined the Ukrainian armed forces,
01:49gaining access to information relating to military personnel, units and locations. It is alleged he later
01:58provided or attempted to provide information obtained in Ukraine to individuals he believed were acting on
02:05behalf of Russian intelligence services. Now, Joe, this is a somewhat unusual case in some ways,
02:13because of course, what we're talking about here is foreign interference conducted in Russia and Ukraine,
02:20as well as Australia, rather than primarily here in Australia. And of course, the ultimate target here
02:25appears to be not the Australian community or the Australian government or people living here, but rather Ukraine.
02:32So, unsurprisingly, Chrissie Barrett got some questions about whether that meant
02:36that foreign interference was the right charge to be levelling here. Was it appropriate?
02:41Her answer was yes, particularly under the more expansive foreign interference laws that have been on
02:45the books for a few years now. She said Australia wanted to make sure it didn't provide any sort of
02:50protection or safe haven for people who are acting covertly on behalf of a foreign state, in this case,
02:55Russia. Let's take a listen to what she had to say on that.
02:59I just reinforce that, you know, our job is ensuring that Australia does not become a safe haven for
03:06people who think that they can conduct foreign interference on our shores. So this is about
03:11sending a message that our counter-foreign interference task force, we're very good at what we do.
03:18Now, Mr Teslov didn't make an appearance in person, we're told, at the Brisbane court today when his case
03:23did come up. But nonetheless, he's likely to come back up, or at least his case will, around the
03:30beginning of October. This is obviously a complicated but potentially very consequential case, Joe.
03:36So I imagine reporters in Brisbane, but also people in Canberra, will be watching its progress
03:41progress pretty closely.
03:43So
03:43you
03:43you
03:44you
03:44you
03:44you
