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| Why is Russia accusing its own scientists of treason? |
| 2024-06-10 |
| [BBC] Russian President Vladimir Putin frequently boasts that his country is leading the world in developing hypersonic weapons, which travel at more than five times the speed of sound. But a string of Russian physicists working on the science underlying them have been charged with treason and imprisoned in recent years, in what rights groups see as an overzealous crackdown. Most of those arrested are elderly, and three are now dead. One was taken from his hospital bed in the late stages of cancer and died soon afterwards. Another is Vladislav Galkin, a 68-year-old academic, whose home in Tomsk in southern Russia was raided in April 2023. Armed men in black masks arrived at 04:00, digging through cupboards and seizing papers with scientific formulae on them, a relative says. Mr Galkin’s wife, Tatyana, says she has told their grandchildren – who liked to play chess with him – that he’s on a business trip. She says Russia’s security service, the FSB, has forbidden her from speaking about his case. Since 2015, 12 physicists have been arrested who are all associated in some way with hypersonic technology or with institutions that work on it. They are all charged with high treason, which can include passing state secrets to foreign countries. Russian treason trials are held behind closed doors, so it’s not clear exactly what they are accused of. The Kremlin has said only that “the accusations are serious” and it can’t comment further because special services are involved. But colleagues and defence lawyers say the scientists weren’t involved in weapons development and that some of the cases are based on them openly collaborating with foreign researchers. And critics suggest the FSB wants to create the impression foreign spies are chasing weapons secrets. Hypersonic refers to missiles that can travel at extremely high speeds and also change direction during flight, evading air defences. Russia says it has used two types in its war on Ukraine – the Kinzhal, launched from an aircraft, and the Zircon cruise missile. However, Kyiv says its forces have shot down some Kinzhal missiles, raising questions about their capabilities. As the technology has been developed and deployed, the arrests have continued. Shortly after Mr Galkin's arrest in April 2023, he was remanded in court on the same day as another scientist, Valery Zvegintsev, with whom he had co-authored several papers. The state-owned news agency Tass has cited a source saying Mr Zvegintsev's arrest may have been prompted by an article published in an Iranian journal in 2021. |
| Posted by:Skidmark |