"Espionage" and "treason"? How scientists are being targeted in Putin's Russia

Since the war in Ukraine, there have been an increasing number of accusations of treason and espionage in Russia. Researchers who publish in international magazines or appear at conferences abroad are also being targeted.

At first, Maxim Kolker believed it was an attempt to defraud him over the phone, a kind of "grandchild trick". His father had been arrested, the voice said. Kolker hung up. He had taken his father, the well-known Russian physicist Dmitri Kolker, who was suffering from cancer, to hospital in Novosibirsk just the day before. But then he called himself and confirmed the news.

The family later learned that Kolker senior had been charged with treason - an accusation that was investigated in absolute secrecy and for which he faced long prison sentences. Like Kolker, accusations of treason and espionage have recently affected a whole range of people, from Kremlin critics and independent media professionals to scientists.

In the recent past, around a handful of treason accusations were made public in Russia every year. However, since the war against Ukraine, the number has skyrocketed, as have the accusations of espionage. Around two years ago, President Vladimir Putin called on the security services to "harshly suppress the actions of foreign intelligence services and immediately identify traitors, spies and saboteurs".

Accused face strict isolation

Such cases are almost always in the hands of the powerful domestic secret service FSB, and concrete accusations and evidence are not always disclosed. The accused are often held in strict isolation in Moscow's notorious Lefortovo prison. Court hearings are held behind closed doors and long prison sentences are the order of the day.

The "First Department" legal advisory group led by lawyer Evgeny Smirnov counted more than 100 known cases of accusations of treason last year. There are probably just as many more that nobody knows about, says Smirnov. The longer the war lasts, the more "traitors" the authorities want to arrest. The number of cases had already increased after 2014, following the Russian annexation of Crimea.

Two years earlier, the definition of treason had been expanded: According to this, providing "support" to foreign countries or organizations can now also fall under it. This was preceded by mass protests against the government, which the Kremlin condemned as having been instigated by the West.

Putin had given assurances that there would be no "broad interpretation of the term". However, developments speak a different language.

Long prison sentences loom

Ivan Safronov, an adviser to the Roscosmos space agency and former military journalist, was sentenced to 22 years in prison for treason. Those close to him saw the conviction as retaliation for Safronov's reporting on military incidents and dubious arms deals. "It is a very good warning example that journalists should not write about the defense sector," explained his fiancée and fellow reporter Xenia Mironova.

Scientists working on weapons-related topics such as aerodynamics or hypersonics were also targeted by the FSB. People close to them say that they have often been accused of lecturing abroad or collaborating with foreign researchers.

International projects become their undoing

77-year-old Anatoly Maslov, who worked on hypersonic technology, was sentenced to 14 years in prison in May. He and two other colleagues may have been framed for lectures at international seminars and conferences, journal articles or international scientific projects.

During the search of his father's apartment, the FSB was on the lookout for presentations that the physicist had used in lectures in China, says Maxim Kolker. His father's presentations had been approved for use abroad and had also been shown at home. "Every student could understand that he wasn't revealing anything in them," emphasizes Kolker. Nevertheless, FSB officers took the 54-year-old, who was suffering from cancer, out of his hospital bed in 2022 and brought him to Lefortovo prison in Moscow.

The sick scientist called his family from the plane to say goodbye. He knew that he would probably not survive prison, says his son. Just a few days later, his relatives received a telegram informing them of Dmitri Kolker's death.

dpa