Russia: Missile Scientist Treason Trial Set for June

Facts

• Anatoly Maslov, a Russian hypersonic missile scientist, will in June become the first of three scientists from the Khristianovich Institute of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics (ITAM) in Siberia accused of treason to face trial, it has been announced. Maslov has been in custody since June 2022.¹
• The case has been marked as "top secret," and will be closed to the media and public. Though details are sparse, local media reports claim that the scientists are accused of sharing state secrets with China.²
• The other two accused are Valery Zvegintsev and Aleksandr Shiplyuk, the director of ITAM. Sources claim that Shiplyuk was arrested for allegedly passing state secrets to China in 2017 during a conference, while the accused claims the information was accessible online.²
• The Siberian branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences has released an open letter condemning the arrests, saying the scientists devoted their lives to "serving Russian science," and that international cooperation is part of "high-quality scientific activity."³
• Hypersonic missiles are capable of traveling at ten times the speed of sound. ITAM is well-connected with the Russian military, and describes itself as part of Russia's military-industrial complex.¹
• Over the last five years, 12 Siberian Russian Academy of Sciences members have faced criminal charges. In total, 21 treason investigations have been launched in Russia since the start of the year.⁴

Sources: ¹Al Jazeera, ²Reuters, ³CNN, and ⁴RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty.

Narratives

• Anti-Russia narrative, as provided by Meduza. These three are not the first scientists to face spurious charges under Putin's regime. A scientist last year died in custody while facing treason charges after returning from a conference. These tactics are aimed at creating a culture of fear in Russian society, where no one is beyond the reach of the Russian security state and everybody is dispensable.
• Pro-Russia narrative, as provided by Sputnik International. Russia has been facing a ceaseless assault on all fronts from the West and its allies, forcing the government to drastically shore up security in each and every domain. Just this month, the CIA openly tried to recruit Russian spies with a PR campaign, demonstrating just what Russia is up against. Under siege, the Kremlin cannot afford to leave any stone unturned with regards to intelligence and security.

Predictions