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
A new anti-conversion law in India’s Chhattisgarh state is drawing sharp criticism from Christian leaders and human rights advocates, who warn it could intensify persecution against religious minorities.
Israel will expand its buffer zone in southern Lebanon while continuing military operations against Hezbollah, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Wednesday, following a security cabinet meeting that ended without a ceasefire agreement.
The United States Senate has voted down multiple resolutions aimed at halting U.S. weapons sales to Israel, but the votes revealed a notable shift within the Democratic Party, where support for such measures has surged in recent years.
House Democrats are preparing to introduce five articles of impeachment against War Secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesday, intensifying political divisions in Washington over the Trump administration’s military campaign against Iran.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced a historic battlefield milestone this week, declaring that Ukrainian forces successfully captured a Russian position using only unmanned robotic systems—marking what he described as a first in modern warfare.
Iran secretly deployed a Chinese-built surveillance satellite to monitor U.S. military bases across the Middle East during the recent conflict, significantly enhancing its targeting capabilities, according to a new investigation by the Financial Times.
U.S. President Donald Trump declared Wednesday that the United States will not agree to any peace deal with Iran unless Tehran fully abandons its nuclear ambitions, reinforcing a hardline stance as diplomatic efforts continue amid rising regional tensions.