Advisor for Putin envoy to Ural region arrested on treason charges

Alexander Vorobyov was appointed as an advisor to the Presidential Envoy to the Ural Federal District in July 2018. One year later, he has been arrested and jailed as he awaits trial on treason charges. Vorobyov’s government position was not widely known until he announced it himself in court. In 2018, he received a letter of thanks for his service from Vladimir Putin himself.

Treason cases are a matter of special attention in the independent Russian press both because the acquittal rate in those cases stands at about 1 percent and because claims that state secrets are involved enable the cases to take place out of the public eye. Treason is punishable in Russia by 12 to 20 years in prison.