4 Russian sailors convicted of treason

Four Russian sailors have been found guilty of treason. They’ve been stripped of all military rank and awards, and sent to prison.

A source familiar with the situation told Interfax that the sailors—two senior officers and two enlisted men—are already serving out their criminal sentences. Interfax was unable to find out the details of the charges brought against these men, learning only that they “shared top-secret information.”

The Supreme Court’s website contains information about an espionage case where the defendants’ appeal was rejected and the verdict entered force in November 2014. The website mentions another three similar cases involving military personnel, however, and none of the trials’ details are available to the public. 

“The convicted are already serving out their sentences. The court handed down prison sentences to four sailors: senior naval officers Zakhary Agapishvili and Sergei Danilchenko, and two enlisted men: Levan Charkviani and Konstantin Yashin,” a source told Interfax.

In the past two months, several cases involving treason and espionage charges have made major headlines in Russia. The list of suspects includes Vladimir Golubev, a former researcher at the Russian Federal Nuclear Center, Evgeny Petrin, a clerk in Moscow Patriarchate’s office who says he was an FSB agent, a certain Gennady Kravtsov, and Petr Parpulov, a former employee of the Sochi airport.

The prosecution of Svetlana Davydova, a mother of seven children, has resonated most strongly with the public. Investigators say Davydova handed over classified information about Russian troop movements to the Ukrainian embassy in April 2014. Following a campaign to free her from jail, police later released Davydova on her own recognizance.