Polish citizen accused of trying to smuggle missile components out of Russia sentenced to 14 years for espionage

On June 25, the Moscow City Court convicted Polish citizen Marian Radzaevski of espionage and sentenced him to 14 years in a high-security prison colony. The trial was closed to the public because it involved confidential case materials.

According to Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), Radzaevski attempted to organize an arms export shipment to Poland that included state secrets related to the S-300 guided missile system. The suspect was caught red-handed during an attempt to negotiate a deal for the equipment, the FSB asserted. While the agency did not publicly reveal any details of the planned exchange, its representatives argued that Radzaevski “acted in the interests of a Polish organization that is a leading supplier for that country’s military and intelligence services.” The agency did not specify the name of the organization in question.

An anonymous source told Interfax that Radzaevski plead innocence. During his arrest, he said he had come to Russia to purchase spare parts. Yulia Sorina, Radzaevski’s attorney, plans to appeal his sentence and argue for a less severe charge.

Marian Radzaevski was arrested on April 21, 2018, and jailed that same day, according to court documents. Those same documents, which were drafted on December 18, 2018, indicate charges of attempted arms smuggling, which carries a sentence of three to seven years in prison, far less than the 10 – 20 available for espionage charges. No information is currently available on how and why the shift to espionage charges took place.

Razdaevski’s sentence states that he was born in 1977 in the Polish city of Białystok and that he worked for the company Avtotrans before becoming an independent contractor. The sentence indicates that Razdaevski has six young children.