A judge reads out the verdict in the case of The Wall Street Journal correspondent Evan Gershkovich, who was sentenced to 16 years in prison for espionage in July and swapped with the West in a prisoner swap in early August. Photo: EPA-EFE/STRINGER
The number of convictions for treason in Russia has more than tripled in the first half of 2024 compared to the same period last year, while convictions for espionage grew ninefold, Russian independent media outlet IStories revealed on Friday.
After analysing Russian court data, IStories found that 52 people had been convicted of treason in the first six months of this year, the highest number in nine years. In addition, espionage convictions were found to have grown ninefold in the first half of 2024 compared to the same period last year, IStories reported.
Military crimes, such as desertion or failure to obey an order, tripled in 2024 compared to the same period last year, and rose more than sevenfold compared to pre-war years, the outlet wrote, while the number of servicemen convicted of murder more than quadrupled compared to the same period in 2021, the year before Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Cases of treason and espionage in Russia have soared since the start of the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Tatyana Laletina, a 21-year-old student from the Siberian city of Tomsk, was convicted of treason and sentenced to nine years in prison in July for donating €27 to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Dual US-Russian citizen Ksenia Karelina was sentenced to 12 years in August for treason for donating money to a charity supporting Ukraine, while an art teacher from Russia’s central Lipetsk region was sentenced to 20 years in prison for treason in June for transferring cryptocurrency worth €220 to Ukraine.
The Kremlin has also targeted some of Russia’s leading scientists, with at least a dozen specialists in hypersonic technology, apparently favoured by Vladimir Putin for use in war, charged with treason since 2015 for “passing state secrets to foreign countries”, according to the BBC.
