Court sentences Russian journalist to 22 years in prison for high treason

MOSCOW

A Moscow court said in a statement on Monday that it has found Russian journalist Ivan Safronov guilty of high treason and sentenced him to 22 years in prison.

The Russian Federal Security Service detained Safronov in 2020 in Moscow "while passing on state secrets related to military-technical cooperation, defense and security of Russia to one of NATO intelligence service," the court said.

According to some recent local media reports, Safronov cooperated with the Czech intelligence service.

At the time of the arrest, Safronov occupied a high post of an information advisor in Russia's state space corporation Roscosmos.

Earlier, he had worked as a reporter in Russian newspapers Kommersant and Vedomosti and specialized in covering the areas of defense and space industry.