Wie kentrisierte Kanu österreichischen Bundesstaatengeheimnissen an Putins Spione übergeben

On a warm summer day, the cabinet of the Austrian interior ministry took time off from protecting national security for a leisurely [canoe trip along the Danube.](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/04/01/austrian-spy-egisto-ott-arrested-selling-data-jan-marsalek/)

But what started as a team building away-day sparked events that would not be out of place in The Thick of It, the political satire.

Two of the canoes collided, throwing some of the Austrian government’s highest ranking officials into the water.

Their soggy mobile phones were entrusted to a forensic police officer to see if the sensitive data could be recovered – but instead found their way into [the clutches of the Russian secret services.](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/03/11/russia-spy-jan-marsalek-plan-take-over-austria-intelligence/)

The devices and the official secrets they held were transferred to Moscow on the orders of Jan Marsalek, [the fugitive Austrian tech boss](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/09/26/bulgarian-nationals-appear-court-accused-spying-russia/), by Orlin Roussev, who was leading a Russian spy ring from a guest house in Great Yarmouth.

[Roussev and his team of Bulgarian agents](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/12/02/russian-spy-ring-leader-honeytrap-agent-sexy-bitch/) will be sentenced at the Old Bailey in London this week, after being caught by Britain’s biggest spying investigation.

**Read more:** [**https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2025/05/06/capsized-canoe-austrian-state-secrets-putin-spies/**](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2025/05/06/capsized-canoe-austrian-state-secrets-putin-spies/)