Eight out of 10 Russian Space Agency delegates were not issued Australian visas to attended a major symposium in Queensland, according to Russia Today.
According to the article, two Russian delegates who applied were successful in their applications: Victor Kosenko and Sergey Revnivykh.
Mr Revnivykh told Russian media group, Izvestia, the visa process had been a long and drawn out process.
“They called me from [the Australian] consulate, asking for the exact military unit I did military service in and give the names of commanders. I have never been in service in my life and had put this information on the visa form. They never say anything to the point, repeating again that the documents are being processed,”
The conference is hosted by the International Global Navigation Satellite Systems Society.
The Russian embassy in Canberra said the incident was an "unfriendly act".
In an interview with ABC Radio, Russian embassy spokesman Alexander Odoevskiy said his country was disappointed.
"Obviously every country can decide who to let [have] a visa but in the current circumstances, given it's an international — as I understand United Nations conference — it is not a very friendly step from Australia as a whole country to do so," he told the AM program.
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