The head of a Russian program which develops hypersonic missiles has been jailed for seven years for treason following a top-secret court case, it has been reported.
President Vladimir Putin has boasted about Russia's hypersonic missile program which has been key to his projection of Moscow's military might. But working on the program comes with a risk, with at least a dozen scientists reportedly being detained in what are believed to be politically motivated arrests.
Russian newspaper Kommersant reported Thursday that Alexander Kuranov, head of the Scientific Research Enterprise of Hypersonic Systems (NIPGS) who was arrested by Russia's main intelligence agency the FSB in August 2021 on suspicion of "high treason", had been jailed after a hearing in St. Petersburg City Court.
Kuranov was handed the seven-year term "in a high-security penal colony with a fine of 100,000 rubles ($1,065)," the paper said.
"The details of the case are unknown, since it was considered behind closed doors," the paper said, citing Daria Lebedeva, head of the court's press service, which Newsweek has contacted for further comment.
In her post on Telegram, Lebedeva said that the court had considered the case in two sessions and imposed a punishment less than that recommended for a breach of Article 275 of Russia's criminal code, relating to treason.
Kuranov is thought to be part of a team that is developing the Ayaks hypersonic aircraft that can travel at up five times the speed of sound, Defense Mirror reported. The program had begun in the Soviet era and recently been restarted.
Russian state media noted that Kuranov was the author of more than 120 scientific papers and had also been an organizer of the Russian-American International Symposium "Thermochemical and Plasma Processes in Aerodynamics", held in St. Petersburg.
Yevgeny Smirnov, a lawyer who represented other detained scientists, told news outlet BBC Russian in February hypersonic experts had been accused of transferring secrets about the program to other countries, although it was not clear if this was linked to the treason charges Kuranov faced.
Smirnov said those detained were not involved in weapons development and were only working with foreign partners on the science behind the program.
He told the outlet that the cases intended "to show that Russian missiles are the best and that they are trying to steal them."
Others arrested had been working at the Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute (TsNIIMash) in the Moscow region, the Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute (TsAGI) in Moscow, and also the Khristianovich Institute of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics (ITPM) in Siberia.
Update 04/18/24/, 7:30 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with further information.
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Brendan Cole is a Newsweek Senior News Reporter based in London, UK. His focus is Russia and Ukraine, in particular ... Read more
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