FSB Arrests Former Defense Workers on Treason Charges
Russian Courts Sentence Former Employees
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July 26, 2023
Two former defense employees, a couple previously bound by marriage, were sentenced by a Russian court to 17 and 13 years in prison for treason on Tuesday. R.A. Sidorkin, 50, and T.A. Sidorkina, 41, were found guilty of passing military intelligence to Ukraine and planning to bomb key railway lines, according to a statement from the Kursk Regional Court.
Their arrests in the Kursk region, located near the Ukrainian border, were effected last month by the Federal Security Bureau (FSB). The accused were alleged to have handed over technical documents and models pivotal to the production of weapon systems for Russia's air force.
The FSB, in its official statement, indicated that Sidorkin and Sidorkina were implicated in schemes to sabotage railway lines in the Kursk and Belgorod regions. These rail arteries provide logistical support to the Russian forces engaged in the Ukrainian conflict.
The security service seized a daunting cache of items in their crackdown - over four kilograms (nine pounds) of plastic explosives, four detonators, military design documentation, and $150,000 in cash. The FSB made no secret of the significant threat the duo posed to national security and the severity of the crimes they stand accused of.
Sidorkin was slapped with additional charges of illegal possession of firearms and ammunition, which contributed to his longer sentence. Sidorkina, meanwhile, received a 13-year sentence.