About 10 years ago, Tsvetanka D., a Bulgarian national, moved to the Austrian capital, Vienna. For a time, she worked as a cleaner. It is not known whether she had any jobs after that.

Whatever she did, it seems that she had plenty of spare time because she was very active on social media. Over the years, her posts opposing COVID-19 vaccines and in support of Russia's policies and Austria's far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ) grew and grew.

"She was always posting nonsense on Facebook — pro Putin, pro Russia ... that kind of stuff," says Plamen B., a Bulgarian national who employed Tsvetanka D. in a cleaning company in Vienna for a short time in 2015.

"But more like a typically confused person, one of those people who is really susceptible to propaganda," he said.

But there was nothing remotely "typical" about Tsvetanka D. According to information provided on March 24 by Austria's Directorate State Protection and Intelligence Service (DNS), Tsvetanka D. was indeed employed, but not in a regular job: She was instead working as a Russian agent.

Although the DNS did not actually reveal the name of the Bulgarian national in question, it was later made public by the BBC.

Tsvetanka D. was obviously tasked with spreading Russian disinformation in Austria.

To this end, she posted stickers around the Austrian capital. The stickers were meant to appear pro-Ukrainian, but actually included Nazi symbols. The aim was to spread the Russian disinformation that Ukrainians are Nazis.

She was also tasked with spreading similar disinformation online. Tsvetanka D. has obviously admitted to the Austrian authorities that her most active period was in 2022, the........

© Deutsche Welle