Russian physicist Anatoly Maslov was convicted of treason and sentenced to 14 years in a penal colony on Tuesday in the latest of several cases against experts working on the science underpinning Russia’s development of hypersonic missiles.
White-haired Maslov, 77, stood in a glass box in the St Petersburg courtroom and listened attentively without showing emotion, as the judge read the verdict after a trial that was closed to the press. He had protested his innocence.
Maslov is one of three scientists from the same Siberian institute, all specialists in hypersonics, who have been arrested since 2022 on treason charges. The other two, Alexander Shiplyuk and Valery Zvegintsev, are awaiting trial.
The trio, and a number of other scientists accused in similar cases, had conducted theoretical work in areas relevant to the development of hypersonic missiles – cutting-edge weapons capable of carrying payloads at up to 10 times the speed of sound to punch through air-defence systems.
President Vladimir Putin has said repeatedly that Russia is a world leader in these weapons, which it has acknowledged using in the Ukraine war.
Lawyer Yevgeny Smirnov of Pervy Otdel (First Department), an association that specialises in defending people in cases of treason and espionage, said the charges against all the accused scientists were similar – divulging information considered a state secret while participating in an international conference or research.
Any conviction against Maslov is a gross violation of the law,” he said. “I am sure that Maslov is not guilty of the acts accused of him and is a victim of the policies of the Russian authorities.”
Maslov’s lawyer Olga Dinze told reporters her client, who has serious heart problems, was shocked by the sentence but was “holding firm” and would appeal.
She described him as a man who lived modestly and had dedicated his life to Russian science, turning down numerous invitations to leave the country and join a western university.
