Russia sentenced former US Consulate employee convicted of “collecting information” about the Ukraine war to prison

Moscow — A court in the Russian far eastern city of Vladivostok on Friday convicted a former U.S. Consulate employee accused of collaborating with a foreign state and sentenced him to four years and 10 months in prison.

Robert Shonov, a Russian citizen and former employee of the US Consulate in Vladivostok, was arrested in May 2023. Russia’s top internal security agency, the FSB, accused him of “gathering information regarding a private incident.” “Military operation in Ukraine”A partial appeal in Russian regions and its impact on “public protest activities ahead of the 2024 presidential elections.”

The US Embassy in Moscow condemned the sentence and dismissed the charges against him as “completely false and unfounded”.

“The criminal prosecution of Mr. Shonov only highlights the intimidation campaign the Russian government is increasingly employing against its own citizens,” the embassy said in a statement. he said.

Shonov was charged under a new article of Russian law that makes it a crime to “collaborate on a secret basis with a foreign state, international or foreign organization for the purpose of assisting its activities clearly aimed at the security of Russia.” Kremlin critics and human rights advocates say the law is too broad and could be used to punish any Russian with foreign connections. It provides for a prison sentence of up to eight years.

The US State Department announced last year that Shonov had worked at the US Consulate in Vladivostok for more than 25 years. The consulate closed in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and never reopened amid rising tensions between Moscow and Washington.

The State Department said Shonov worked for a company contracted by the United States to support its embassy in Moscow, following the Russian government’s April 2021 order requiring the firing of all local employees at U.S. diplomatic posts.

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in May 2023 that Shonov’s sole role at the time of his arrest was to “compile media summaries of press matters from publicly available Russian media sources.”

Shonov was held in Lefortovo Prison in Moscow, notorious for its harsh conditions, and the investigation continued, but he was tried in Vladivostok’s Primorsky District Court.

In addition to the prison sentence Shonov was ordered to serve in a general regime penal colony, the court ordered Shonov to pay a fine of 1 million rubles (just over $10,000) and face additional restrictions for 16 months after completing his prison sentence. .

Although Shonov is a Russian citizen, Russian authorities have arrested numerous Americans and dual citizens in recent years on charges ranging from espionage to petty theft; some cases were related to Moscow’s ongoing occupation of Ukraine.

Among them is a 72-year-old American described as: Stephen Hubbard’s sentence has been announced in early October after being found guilty of fighting as a mercenary on behalf of Ukraine. A judge at the Moscow City Court sentenced him to six years and 10 months in prison for “participating in armed conflict as a mercenary” after a brief hearing held largely behind closed doors.

Ksenia KarelinaA dual US-Russian citizen who was arrested while visiting family in Russia was sentenced to 12 years in prison over the summer for donating nearly $50 to a Ukrainian organization.

There was also a major prisoner exchange with the United States over the summer, involving two high-profile American prisoners, Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and US Navy veteran Paul Whelan. was released in exchange for a few Russians Many of those imprisoned in the United States and other countries have ties to Russian intelligence.

In the previous exchange, it was seen that Russia released the WNBA star Brittney Griner In exchange for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, who was convicted in December 2022.