Uralvagonzavod engineer sentenced to 16 years for treason

The Sverdlovsk Regional Court sentenced former Uralvagonzavod engineer Danil Mukhametov to 16 years in a maximum security penal colony for treason. He was also fined 300,000 rubles.

According to investigators, Mukhametov and his wife handed over some secret blueprints to Ukrainian intelligence. Victoria Mukhametova was previously sentenced to 12 and a half years in prison under the same article. The case was considered separately because Mukhametova agreed to a plea bargain. During interrogation, she said that she handed over the blueprints for one hundred thousand rubles, Radio Liberty reports.

The couple worked in Nizhny Tagil at Uralvagonzavod, which, in addition to civilian products, produces military products, including tanks.

The Mukhametovs were detained on the street in March 2023, allegedly for using foul language in a public place. They themselves claimed that they did not swear. Then the court gave them 12 days of administrative arrest. After their arrest, the couple was detained again upon leaving the detention center and charged with treason.

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During the debate, the prosecutor's office requested 17 years in prison for Mukhametov.

The trial was held behind closed doors. Mukhametov's case was heard by Judge Andrei Mineev, who had previously heard the case of The Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich in three sessions and sentenced him to 16 years in prison on charges of espionage. In August, he returned to the United States as a result of a large-scale prisoner exchange between Russia and several Western countries.

In addition, Judge Mineev sentenced Russian and US citizen Ksenia Karelina to 12 years in prison. She was accused of treason, claiming that she transferred $50 to a Ukrainian fund. According to the FSB, Karelina was thus financing the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

In Russia, 52 people were convicted under the article on treason in the first six months of 2024 – This is three and a half times more than for the same period last year, “Important Stories” calculated. For the whole of 2023, sentences under this article were handed down to 39 people.

Prepared by: Sergey Daga