By Abigail Philip David
A Russian engineer at one of the world’s largest tank manufacturers has been sentenced to 16 years in prison on charges of high treason for allegedly sharing military information with Ukraine, a regional court in Sverdlovsk reported on Tuesday.
The engineer, 32-year-old Daniel Mukhametov, worked at Uralvagonzavod in Nizhny Tagil, a prominent tank production facility in Russia’s Urals. Russian security agency FSB detained Mukhametov and his wife, Viktoria, in 2023 over accusations of providing military and technical information to Ukrainian intelligence, according to court documents.
Mukhametov “partially admitted his guilt” and received a 16-year prison sentence. Viktoria Mukhametova, who also worked at Uralvagonzavod, was sentenced to 12.5 years in prison on similar charges earlier in October, Russian news agencies reported.
This case is one of many espionage prosecutions Russia has launched since the start of its conflict with Ukraine in February 2022. Thousands of individuals have also been detained or fined for opposing the Ukraine war.
