Kira Korolev: Secret documents reveal Kremlin-backed military firm paid accused Russian spy

Accused Russian spy Kira Korolev, once celebrated by the Australian Defence Force as a model soldier, was secretly employed by a Kremlin-backed war machine powering Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

An investigation by The Nightly has obtained internal Russian Government documents spanning two federal ministries — the first time an Australian media outlet has obtained any internal Russian Government material.

The documents expose Mrs Korolev — whose Australian security clearance permitted her access to top secret Australian intelligence — secretly receiving hundreds of thousands of Russian rubles from a sanctioned military firm serving Russia’s top intelligence agencies while she was employed in the Australian Defence Force.

Her new Moscow apartment complex — the city where Australian authorities allege she was preparing for an espionage offence last year — is 375m from Russian military intelligence agency GRU headquarters, Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs documents reveal.

Her presence at the epicentre of Russian military intelligence is such that the mobile phone of a GRU major general who supervises the chief of GRU Department 5 — responsible for masterminding long-term, deep-cover Russian spies known as Russian illegals — has connected to a cell phone tower 55m from Mrs Korolev’s apartment complex more than it has to any other cell phone tower in Russia, telecommunications records obtained by The Nightly reveal.

As first reported by ABC News, she claims in her Australian resume to have had seven years of theatre and acting roles in Moscow stating, “In Russia, I worked as assistant director in Moscow drama theatre”. Russian Ministry of Labor and Social Protection documents obtained by The Nightly reveal no such history.

Mrs Korolev, who Australian authorities allege undertook undeclared travel to Russia last year, would travel throughout Russia to Belarus and the far western city of Saint Petersburg, further Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs documents reveal.

Flight records show Mrs Korolev booked a return flight from Moscow to Istanbul last year — less than four weeks before the secret payments began.

These revelations come after The Nightly exposed that the Australian Defence Force promoted Mrs Korolev as a model soldier in two recruitment videos it erased on the day intelligence agencies arrested her.

The Russian ambassador to Australia, whose embassy described her and husband Igor Korolev’s arrests as “intended to launch another wave of anti-Russian paranoia in Australia”, did not respond to invitations for an interview and to comment.

“Theatrical tricks were used like talking to imaginary ‘Russian spies’ presumed to be all around”, the Russian embassy said after the joint Australian Federal Police and ASIO press conference announcing their arrests.

The Nightly can reveal Mrs Korolev — employed as an Australian Army information systems technician — has been secretly employed by Russian Basic Information Technologies, known as RusBITech, a high-tech corporation whose computer operating system Astra Linux powers the Russian armed forces.

RusBITech is a contractor for the FSB, Russia’s domestic intelligence agency; FSTEC, its military information security agency; SVR, its foreign intelligence agency; and the Ministry of Defence, including military intelligence agency GRU.

The firm constructs the APE-5 Mobile Command Post, an armoured vehicle deployed in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine designed for military chiefs to control combat and equipped with satellite communication, cartographic processing, and automated attack modelling — among which are the same type of sensitive military technologies Mrs Korolev managed in the Australian Army.

Its computer operating system — Astra Linux — is deployed across Russian intelligence agencies and is authorised to handle the highest information security classification: “of special importance”.

The FSB, SVR and GRU — which have all credentialed RusBITech to manage state secrets — each mastermind long-term, deep-cover agents — Russian illegals — across the world and within Australia’s Five Eyes allied nations.

The mobile phone of a GRU major general — to whom the chief of the GRU Department 5 Russian illegals program reports — connected to the mobile phone tower 55m from Mrs Korolev’s apartment more than it connected to any of the towers closer to GRU headquarters, according to telecommunications records between 2019 and 2021 obtained by The Nightly.

That apartment complex — her Russian home as of May 19 last year — is 375m or a seven-minute walk from GRU headquarters in Moscow’s north-western Khoroshyovsky district, Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs documents obtained reveal. The HQ was opened by President Vladimir Putin in 2006.

Her previous residential address between 18 January 2022 and 12 June 2024 is in Moscow’s Kuntsevo district, an 11.3km drive from the GRU HQ.

Unlike that Kuntsevo district address that was registered as a place of stay — clause 9 of the 1995 Russian Government Decree No. 713 requires citizens staying in a temporary residence for over 90 days to register that place of stay with authorities — her new address next to GRU is instead listed as her place of residence.

“A citizen who has changed their place of residence is obliged, no later than 7 days from the date of arrival at the new place of residence, to contact the persons responsible for receiving and transmitting documents to the registration authorities and provide the following…”, clause 16 requires.

RusBITech began sending Mrs Korolev hundreds of thousands of Russian rubles from August 14 last year, Russian Ministry of Labor and Social Protection documents reveal.

The payments — equating to about $6000 — continued up to the latest available quarterly data from the end of March.

She is documented receiving 221,739.13 rubles during the third and fourth quarters of 2023 then a further 113,266.74 rubles in the first quarter of 2024.

Mrs Korolev would travel from Moscow to Minsk — the capital of Belarus — between February 10 and 13 last year, then from Moscow to Saint Petersburg between July 25 and 26 last year, Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs documents reveal.

Tourism reservation vendor Sirena-Travel records showed Mrs Korolev travelled on Flight 2173 departing Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport on June 26, 2023, for Istanbul.

A return flight was booked for more than three weeks later on July 19 from Istanbul International Airport, the partial travel records obtained by The Nightly show, less than four weeks before the secret payments began.

The United States, Canada, Belgium, Switzerland, France, Ukraine, and the European Union have all sanctioned RusBITech.

“As an Information Systems Technician, you’ll be part of the Army’s advanced information and communication systems team, the Signallers”, the Australian Defence Force says of Mrs Korolev’s position.

“You’ll manage high-level military software and hardware that could determine the success of military operations.”

The Nightly corroborated Mrs Korolev’s identity by matching the Russian Ministry of Labor and Social Protection documents with her date of birth and social security number, obtained from a leaked 2009 Moscow medical record.

That medical record matches Mrs Korolev’s email address, mobile number, passport, and a former Moscow home address each corroborated with at least two other leaked sources: 2023 Alfa-Bank records, Russia’s largest private bank, and a 2022 Russian Federal Taxation Service database.

The mobile number is connected to her Russian social media OkRU profile from which she documented her Australia travel and the email address is linked to an Adidas Running account, where she is pictured wearing a Commonwealth Bank-branded hat.

A second mobile number in Mrs Korolev’s Alfa-Bank file is also recorded in an Alfa-Bank account belonging to her husband Igor Korolev, which contains his two other mobile numbers, including an Australian Vodafone one linked to a WhatsApp account picturing his face, and two email accounts.

One of those email addresses is tied to his Russian social media OkRU profile where he lists living in Brisbane and is pictured standing beside a life-size figure of Chinese President Xi Jinping.

From his Google account, he gave a five-star review to a Brisbane hair salon — at which Mrs Korolev pictures herself on her Facebook account.

Of all these online accounts that collect last active times, none show activity since their arrests by Australia’s joint counter foreign interference taskforce on 12 July — two days before Mr Korolev’s birthday.

Russian Deputy Minister of Defense Lieutenant General Yunus-Bek Yevkurov and Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces Army General Oleg Salyukov are among the senior officials who have visited RusBITech’s advanced manufacturing facilities.

Its promotional corporate content has been disseminated by the Russian Government’s official media, Rossiyskaya Gazeta.

Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs documents show Mrs Korolev was employed by the Russian bank Flora-Moscow between August 2007 and August 2008, where Mr Korolev also worked between January 2003 and May 2014.

Before working for RusBITech in August 2023, Mrs Korolev began work for AI-powered video content aggregator Zen. Platforma from July 2022, now owned by Russian social media giant VK — her first listed Russian employment since 2009.

“The APE-5 [Mobile Command Post] houses 9–11 automated workstations connected in a unified local network, managing subordinate units ... including through secure communication channels in video conference mode”, Russian state-owned defence media ZVEZDA reported in 2021.

“The complex is equipped with GLONASS satellite navigation equipment and devices for processing cartographic information. The software allows for the automation of various tasks, performing necessary calculations, and modelling situations during the execution of current orders.”

The 40-year-old Russia-born Australian Army private and her now-63-year-old husband Igor Korolev face up to fifteen years imprisonment after the AFP charged them with preparing for an espionage offence. They remain in custody after their matter was adjourned until September.

“I can meet new people and I can make friends for life. I like to serve the nation, which I love,” Mrs Korolev declared in the two erased Australian Defence Force promotions revealed by The Nightly last month.

“I went into the information session and I found out that I can join as an IT Specialist without any prior experience because the full training is provided.”

“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 said in the September 2021 video.

The pair are accused of obtaining Australian Defence Force material to share with Russian authorities.