A Russian citizen has been found guilty of high treason for smuggling missile technology to the United States, Russian state-run media agencies reported on Friday.
Sergei Kabanov was handed a 12-and-a half year jail sentence after an investigation found that he "sent products used in missile technology of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation to the interests of the American company Victory Procurement Services (Huntsville, Alabama), controlled by the U.S. Department of Defense," news agency Interfax cited the press service of Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) as saying.
Kabanov acted on the instructions of U.S. intelligence services and organized a "smuggling channel for the supply of Russian military products to the United States," the statement said.
Newsweekhas contacted the U.S. Department of Defense for comment via email.
Kabanov reportedly transported components to the United States through Latvia.
"The channel for transferring components of Russian anti-aircraft missile systems and radar weapons to the enemy has been eliminated," the FSB's statement said.
He will serve out his sentence in a maximum security prison colony.
Kabanov was arrested in Moscow on April 28, 2021, but details of the investigation were not released at the time. State-run news agency RIA Novosti reported that details were not disclosed "due to confidentiality of information."
The charge of high treason in Russia carries a jail term of between 12 and 20 years and defines treason as including espionage, the issuance of state secrets to a foreign state or organization, and the provision of financial, logistical, consulting or other assistance should the activities be directed against the security of Russia.
According to Bloomberg, Victory Procurement Services provides "various commercial services."
Newsweek has contacted Blake Mitchell, President and CEO of Victory Procurement Services, for comment via LinkedIn.
Three Russian scientists, Anatoly Maslov, Alexander Shiplyuk and Valery Zvegintsev, who worked on the development of hypersonic misisles have been arrested on suspicion of treason, their colleagues at the Institute of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics of the Russian Academy of Sciences' Siberian Branch said in an open letter in May.
"We simply don't understand how to continue our craft," they wrote, saying that the three men had merely participated in overseas conferences and international projects, as well as having their work published in popular magazines.
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Update 09/15/23, 6:33 a.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information and a new video.
Update 09/15/23, 8:46 a.m. ET: This article has been updated to say Newsweek has contacted Blake Mitchell of Victory Procurement Services for comment.
