Key facts
- Austrian prosecutors said a Ukrainian journalist and cameraman were arrested on suspicion of spying.
- The journalist, Mykhailo Tkach, and cameraman Yaroslav Bondarenko were released without charge.
- The arrests were based on suspicions that they were observing a location also surveilled by two other men suspected of spying.
- The Vienna prosecutors' office stated the arrests were not related to the men's professional activities.
- Two other Ukrainian men remain in custody on suspicion of spying.
The arrest of a Ukrainian journalist in Vienna last week was ordered because he was seen watching a location that two men suspected of spying had also surveilled, not because of his profession, the Vienna prosecutors' office said on Monday.
Austrian police arrested two Ukrainians on Monday last week on suspicion of spying. The following Thursday they arrested two more: investigative journalist Mykhailo Tkach and cameraman Yaroslav Bondarenko.
While the first two have been remanded in investigative custody, Tkach and Bondarenko were released without charge.
The Vienna prosecutors' office said in a statement that in the course of the investigation into the first two men, suspicions emerged about a third, apparently referring to Tkach but without mentioning any names.