Russia jails tank factory employee for selling blueprints to Ukraine
2024.10.11 12:27
MOSCOW (Reuters) – A woman who worked for a Russian tank factory was convicted of treason and sentenced to 12-1/2 years in a penal colony on Friday for selling military information to Ukraine.
Video published by the Sverdlovsk regional court in the Urals region showed a judge passing sentence on Viktoria Mukhametova, who displayed no visible emotion. Her husband, Danil Mukhametov, is being tried separately on similar charges.
Russian media said the couple both worked at Uralvagonzavod, a major tank producer.
Earlier this year, Russia convicted Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich of espionage after accusing him of gathering secret information about the same defence company.
The U.S. journalist, his newspaper and the U.S. government denied the spy charge. Gershkovich was released on Aug. 1 in a major East-West prisoner swap.
Local news media said Mukhametova admitted transferring blueprints to Ukrainian officials in return for 100,000 roubles, or just over $1,000. It was not clear what the blueprints showed.
She and her husband were arrested in March 2023 by the FSB security service, which published a video of the arrest. It showed her being asked what they planned to do with the money, to which she replied: “Just to live.”
