Australian soldier charged with spying for Russia

An Australian soldier and her husband have both been charged with spying for Russia.

It is alleged the couple obtained Australian Defence Force (ADF) material to share with Russia.

Kira Korolev, a 40-year-old army private, and her 62-year-old husband Igor Korolev  are both Russian-born Australian citizens and had been in Australia for over a decade.

Kira worked as an information systems technician in the army and Igor was a self-employed labourer.

It is alleged that Kira travelled to Russia on leave from the ADF and then instructed Igor to access her work account and send sensitive material so that she could forward it on to Russian authorities.

Investigators are still trying to assess whether any information was actually passed to Russian authorities.

The couple are the first to face charges for espionage offences that were introduced in 2018.

Australia broadcaster ABC reported that the couple were being watched by authorities for an undisclosed period of time.