A Russian serviceman and his brother were detained for transferring information related to state secrets to the Estonian special services.

This was announced at the Public Relations Center of the FSB of Russia.

"The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation in the cities of Smolensk and Pskov detained a serviceman of the Russian Armed Forces and his brother, permanently residing in Estonia, collecting and transmitting information constituting a state secret to the Estonian special services," the message says.

The FSB of Russia opened a criminal case on the grounds of a crime under Article 275 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (high treason).

The sanction under this article provides for from 12 to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to 500 thousand rubles.

“With regard to the serviceman and his relative, the court chose a preventive measure in the form of detention.

An investigation is underway, ”the FSB stated.

Also, the Russian special service published a video of the detention of a serviceman and his brother.

The men are taken out separately, put into a minibus and handcuffed.

  • FSB detains serviceman and his brother for espionage for Estonia

In July, the press secretary of the Russian president, Dmitry Peskov, noted that foreign intelligence services on the territory of the Russian Federation "are not asleep", however, as well as Russian counterintelligence.

“It's not a secret for anyone that foreign intelligence services are absolutely not asleep on the territory of the Russian Federation.

They work day and night against Russian civil servants, against Russian intelligence officers ... And our counterintelligence service is also on the alert, which counteracts this activity, "said a Kremlin spokesman.

At the same time, Peskov stressed that there is no spy mania in Russia, in contrast to Europe and the United States.

“The activity of foreign intelligence services in our country is not decreasing.

And your task is to act reliably and effectively, ”Vladimir Putin, in turn, said during the FSB board in February 2020.

Detentions for divulging state secrets

On July 30, the FSB announced the arrest of a serviceman of the Black Sea Fleet, who was collecting and transmitting state secret information to the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.

A criminal case was initiated under the article on treason.

In addition, in April in Crimea, the activities of the State Intelligence Service of Ukraine were suppressed, "aimed at organizing and committing sabotage and terrorist acts, stealing information containing state secrets and recruiting Russian citizens."

“Ukrainian military intelligence planned to commit a number of sabotage and terrorist acts at critical social and military infrastructure facilities in our country,” the FSB reported.

Meanwhile, the most resonant case related to accusations of espionage in favor of a foreign state is the case of Ivan Safronov, adviser to the general director of Roscosmos, a former journalist for Kommersant and Vedomosti.

The investigation charged him with high treason.

According to the FSB, he carried out tasks for one of the NATO special services, collected and passed on to its representative information constituting state secrets about military-technical cooperation, defense and security of the Russian Federation.

“The USA is mentioned in the criminal case.

The states are indicated as the state that received this information from Safronov through the Czech special services, ”explained his lawyer Ivan Pavlov.

Safronov himself did not admit his guilt.

The court sessions are held behind closed doors, as the case materials contain classified information.

The former journalist will be detained until December 7.

On September 23, the executive secretary of the Moscow POC, Alexei Melnikov, told RT that Safronov had asked to give him a small reading lamp and warm clothes in the Lefortovo pre-trial detention center.

“Ivan Safronov said that he did not have enough lighting for reading, and he asks to give him a small lamp for reading.

But a representative of the administration said that this is possible only by appointment of an ophthalmologist, "Melnikov noted.

He also voiced the request of the prisoner to hand over warm clothes. 

“Safronov says it's cool in the cell.

In addition, things in the pre-trial detention center first go to the warehouse and are handed over to the prisoners within a month, so Ivan prepares for the cold weather in advance, ”the human rights activist explained.

Ivan Safronov was born in Moscow in 1990, graduated from the Higher School of Economics with a degree in journalism in 2010.

After release until 2019, he was a correspondent and special correspondent for the Kommersant newspaper, in 2019-2020 - a special correspondent for the Vedomosti newspaper.

The main type of journalistic activity is issues of military and military-technical cooperation, problems of the military-industrial complex and the space industry.

Safronov's lawyers reported that the FSB forensics did not find any information containing state secrets in his journalistic publications.