Russian scientists convicted as traitors

Two Russian physicists involved in research that formed the basis for the development of hypersonic missiles were convicted today of treason and sentenced to 12 and a half years in prison in a penal colony, state media reported.

The trial of Valery Zvegintsev and Vladislav Galkin, held behind closed doors due to state secrets, is the latest in a series of treason trials against scientists researching extremely high-speed flight, Reuters reports.

President Vladimir Putin has boasted that Russia is the world leader in the production of hypersonic missiles, which it has used in the war in Ukraine. The weapons can travel at speeds up to ten times the speed of sound to penetrate air defense systems.

Supporters of the scientists argue that these processes demonstrate the zeal of the FSB security service in searching for alleged enemies of the state in such an important and sensitive area.

"When a certain area comes under the watchful eye of Putin and the security chiefs, a purge begins in its ranks. It is very important to find traitors there," said Olga Orlova, editor of the publication T-Invariant, which connects Russian scholars opposed to the war in Ukraine.

Orlova told Reuters in a telephone interview that she was convinced of the innocence of the two men, noting that they had not tried to leave Russia despite the earlier arrests of some of their colleagues.

Orlova said the two men were in poor health and that the sentence for them was tantamount to a death sentence.

The length of their detention and trial - both were arrested in 2023 - indicates that neither agreed to any deal with prosecutors to testify against other colleagues, she added.

Yevgeny Smirnov, a member of a group of human rights lawyers in exile, told Reuters: “Zvegintsev and Galkin are victims of spy mania, persecuted solely for their scientific work.”

The Kremlin does not comment on individual criminal cases, but has previously said that some scientists involved in research into hypersonic technologies face very serious charges. Putin has repeatedly called on security services to further step up efforts to protect against threats in wartime circumstances.

Zvegintsev (82), was a prominent scientist at the Khristianovich Institute of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, ITAM, in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk.

Two of his colleagues there, Anatoly Maslov and Aleksandar Shiplyuk, were sentenced in 2024 to 14 and 15 years in prison, respectively.

Galkin (71), worked at another Siberian university and co-authored scientific papers with Zvegintsev and Shiplyuk.

Orlova said that the two men were in poor health and that the verdict for them was tantamount to a death sentence.

Reuters writes that in the past decade, Russia has launched at least 10 treason cases against scientists working in the field of hypersonics, the study of flight at speeds exceeding Mach five - more than 6.115 kilometers per hour.

The two men have pleaded not guilty, and their supporters allege that Russian security services pre-approved their publications and travel to international scientific conferences.

In a rare open letter from 2023, colleagues of the arrested ITAM researchers stated that they were innocent and that the actions against them were harming Russian science and discouraging young scientists from entering the field.