Russia opens treason case against 76-year-old former Communist faction leader over alleged Ukrainian intelligence ties
Source: Interfax
Gennady Stepakhno, a former deputy speaker of the Murmansk Regional Duma, is under criminal investigation for treason, the regional branch of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said.
The agency said Stepakhno, whom it described as “an opponent of the special military operation,” had cooperated with Ukraine.
The FSB alleges that the former lawmaker used his position to collect documents about the Murmansk regional government’s work and unspecified engineering facilities in the region and pass them to Ukrainian military intelligence. The agency believes this information “could be used to undermine Russia’s security.”
Sources cited by the news outlet Arktichesky Obozrevatel believe the investigation into Stepakhno began after he told a relative living abroad that a pharmaceutical plant was being built in the Murmansk region with India’s involvement.
A court has already ordered Stepakhno, 76, held in pretrial detention. His detention first became public on October 9.
Stepakhno is a veteran Communist lawmaker in the Murmansk Regional Duma. He served four terms from 2007 to 2026 and led the Communist Party faction. He did not return to the regional legislature for its new term.
Russian Communists
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