By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
MOSCOW/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – A prominent Russian physicist began serving a lengthy prison sentence as part of a more extensive crackdown on scientists allegedly aiding Ukraine and threatening Russia’s security.
Worthy News learned that in a trial reminiscent of the Soviet era, the Moscow city court found Alexander Shiplyuk, the 57-year-old director of a top Siberian science institute, guilty of “state treason” after a trial held behind closed doors.
He was sentenced to 15 years on “treason” charges in the latest prison term for a scientist working on the country’s hypersonic missile program.
Well-informed sources said Thursday that over a dozen senior Russian scientists have been detained in recent years.
At least three, including Shiplyuk, worked at the prestigious Khristianovich Institute of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics in Novosibirsk, Siberia’s largest city and a central scientific.
Experts have said the trials indicate a modern “spy mania” and growing paranoia among Russian political elites regarding its military production following Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
CLASSIFIED INFO
The Russian independent news outlet Novaya Gazeta reported that Shiplyuk was suspected of sharing classified information at a scientific conference in China in 2017.
Shiplyuk denied the allegations, saying the information he presented was publicly available in open sources.
In May, Russia sentenced Anatoly Maslov, a 78-year-old professor of aerodynamics at the same institute and a colleague of Shiplyuk, to 14 years in prison on treason charges.
Russian media said he was accused of passing classified data related to Russia’s hypersonic missile program to German intelligence.
This was embarrassing for Russia, which has promoted itself as a world leader in hypersonic missiles, cutting-edge weapons capable of carrying payloads at up to 10 times the speed of sound to punch through air defense systems.
“Russia’s loose definition of espionage makes it easy to bring cases against scientists,” observed journalist Pjotr Sauer in The Guardian newspaper.
INTERNATIONAL PROJECTS
Accusations include “their participation in international projects, even those initiated long before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine,” he added.
There have already been instances of scientists dying in pre-trial detention.
In October 2022, Valery Mitko, an 81-year-old Russian scientist arrested on high treason charges, died while under house arrest after several heart attacks.
Last year, Dmitry Kolker, 54, the director of the Laboratory of Quantum Optics at Novosibirsk State University, who was being held in a spy investigation, died two days after his arrest while being treated in a hospital for stage 4 cancer.
More deaths behind bars are expected as the lengthy sentences mean the accused experts could spend the rest of their lives in prison.
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
Latest News from Worthy News
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday extended for three more days an order allowing women to obtain abortion drugs through the mail without visiting an in-person doctor.
President Donald Trump will arrive in Beijing this week for a high-stakes summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, as Washington intensifies pressure on both China and Iran amid a fragile ceasefire the president described as being on “massive life support.”
The United States has deployed more than 20 warships to enforce a sweeping naval blockade against the Islamic Republic of Iran, in President Donald Trump’s campaign to strip Tehran of the resources it uses to fund terrorism, destabilize the Middle East, and pursue nuclear weapons.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer faced mounting pressure Tuesday to announce his resignation timetable after his ruling Labour Party suffered devastating losses in local and regional elections across the United Kingdom.
Pakistan’s Federal Constitutional Court ordered a 15-year-old Christian girl to be moved to a government shelter after allegations that she was forcibly converted to Islam and married to an older Muslim man, a Christian advocate told Worthy News.
Suspected Muslim Fulani herdsmen killed at least 13 Christians, including three pregnant women, in Nigeria’s central Plateau state days after a pastor and his family were slain in a separate attack, Christians told Worthy News on Monday.
Republicans have received a major boost in the battle for House control after a series of court rulings dramatically shifted the redistricting landscape ahead of the 2026 midterms.