August 05, 2026

Russia's Treason Machine


Russia's Treason Machine
A penitential center in Moscow. Senate of Russian Federation, Flickr.

The independent outlet Verstka has published an analysis of Russian prosecutions for treason and espionage. It found that hundreds of Russians and Ukrainians have been detained each year since 2022, with many cases allegedly built on provocations by the FSB.

In 2024, unemployed Tyumen resident Sergei Lange received a message from an unfamiliar Ukrainian number bearing the logo of Khochu zhit ("I Want to Live"). After the contact asked him to photograph a military facility, Lange reported the exchange to the local FSB. Officers told him to continue communicating. Months later, he was arrested, convicted of treason, and sentenced to 15 years in a high-security penal colony. Lange said the prosecution relied on material he had voluntarily shown the FSB.

Working with Pervy otdel ("First Department"), Parubets Analytics, Esli by ne bylo voiny ("If There Were No War"), and open-source researchers, Verstka assembled a database of Russian state security cases. From 2022 through June 2026, at least 1,904 people were accused of treason, espionage, or cooperation with foreign states; 1,497 were identified.

Prior to 2022, such cases numbered in the dozens annually, peaking at 20 in 2019. After the start of Russia's War on Ukraine, lawmakers broadened the definitions of treason and espionage, added criminal liability for cooperation with foreign states or international organizations, and transferred investigations to regional FSB offices.

Verstka counted 131 arrests in 2022, compared with 11 in both 2020 and 2021. In 2023, authorities arrested 150 more people than during the previous 25 prewar years combined. The outlet said official figures substantially undercount convictions: Russia’s Supreme Court reported 262 treason convictions in 2025, while Verstka documented 514. 

Of those accused since 2022, 85% were men. Russians accounted for 47%, Ukrainians 29%, and other nationalities 1%; citizenship was unknown for 23%. The average age at arrest was 37, and 14 defendants were minors.

Among 898 identified Russians, only 85 may have had access to state secrets. Another 592 appeared to have no such access. Twenty had fought for Ukraine, and 15 were scientists. In 59% of cases, prosecutors filed multiple charges.

Attorney Yevgeny Smirnov from Pervy otdel said that, since 2023, most cases have stemmed from FSB provocations. He said officers created fake websites, Telegram channels, and bots resembling Legion Svoboda Rossii ("Freedom of Russia Legion") or posed as foreign intelligence officers and asked targets to photograph facilities or complete other tasks.

By mid-2026, suspected "traitors" or "spies" had been detained in 72 Russian regions and across Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories. Verstka reviewed 987 sentences issued since 2022 and found no acquittals or suspended sentences.

Average prison terms also rose. Treason sentences increased from 12 years in 2022 to 16 in 2026; sentences for cooperation with a foreign organization rose from five years in 2023 to 12 in 2026; and espionage sentences increased from 12 to 15 years. At least 10 people received life sentences.

Smirnov said nearly half of state-security defendants are tortured during arrest. The rights group Memorial said torture is used both to obtain evidence and to intimidate. At least 13 people detained in such cases since 2022 died in custody.

You Might Also Like

The Useless Red Passport
  • July 29, 2026

The Useless Red Passport

Russia is effectively stripping those who have left the country of their citizenship.
Russia's Elite Asset Sweep
  • July 22, 2026

Russia's Elite Asset Sweep

Cash, cars, homes, and businesses: Russia is confiscating officials assets at a record pace.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of our Books

Fish
February 01, 2010

Fish

This mesmerizing novel from one of Russia’s most important modern authors traces the life journey of a selfless Russian everywoman. In the wake of the Soviet breakup, inexorable forces drag Vera across the breadth of the Russian empire. Facing a relentless onslaught of human and social trials, she swims against the current of life, countering adversity and pain with compassion and hope, in many ways personifying Mother Russia’s torment and resilience amid the Soviet disintegration.

The Latchkey Murders
July 01, 2015

The Latchkey Murders

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin is back on the case in this prequel to the popular mystery Murder at the Dacha, in which a serial killer is on the loose in Khrushchev’s Moscow...

Marooned in Moscow
May 01, 2011

Marooned in Moscow

This gripping autobiography plays out against the backdrop of Russia's bloody Civil War, and was one of the first Western eyewitness accounts of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Marooned in Moscow provides a fascinating account of one woman's entry into war-torn Russia in early 1920, first-person impressions of many in the top Soviet leadership, and accounts of the author's increasingly dangerous work as a journalist and spy, to say nothing of her work on behalf of prisoners, her two arrests, and her eventual ten-month-long imprisonment, including in the infamous Lubyanka prison. It is a veritable encyclopedia of life in Russia in the early 1920s.

A Taste of Russia
November 01, 2012

A Taste of Russia

The definitive modern cookbook on Russian cuisine has been totally updated and redesigned in a 30th Anniversary Edition. Layering superbly researched recipes with informative essays on the dishes' rich historical and cultural context, A Taste of Russia includes over 200 recipes on everything from borshch to blini, from Salmon Coulibiac to Beef Stew with Rum, from Marinated Mushrooms to Walnut-honey Filled Pies. A Taste of Russia shows off the best that Russian cooking has to offer. Full of great quotes from Russian literature about Russian food and designed in a convenient wide format that stays open during use.

Survival Russian
February 01, 2009

Survival Russian

Survival Russian is an intensely practical guide to conversational, colloquial and culture-rich Russian. It uses humor, current events and thematically-driven essays to deepen readers’ understanding of Russian language and culture. This enlarged Second Edition of Survival Russian includes over 90 essays and illuminates over 2000 invaluable Russian phrases and words.

93 Untranslatable Russian Words
December 01, 2008

93 Untranslatable Russian Words

Every language has concepts, ideas, words and idioms that are nearly impossible to translate into another language. This book looks at nearly 100 such Russian words and offers paths to their understanding and translation by way of examples from literature and everyday life. Difficult to translate words and concepts are introduced with dictionary definitions, then elucidated with citations from literature, speech and prose, helping the student of Russian comprehend the word/concept in context.

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices
May 01, 2013

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod is a mid-sized provincial city that exists only in Russian metaphorical space. It has its roots in Gogol, and Ilf and Petrov, and is a place far from Moscow, but close to Russian hearts. It is a place of mystery and normality, of provincial innocence and Black Earth wisdom. Strange, inexplicable things happen in Stargorod. So do good things. And bad things. A lot like life everywhere, one might say. Only with a heavy dose of vodka, longing and mystery.

At the Circus
January 01, 2013

At the Circus

This wonderful novella by Alexander Kuprin tells the story of the wrestler Arbuzov and his battle against a renowned American wrestler. Rich in detail and characterization, At the Circus brims with excitement and life. You can smell the sawdust in the big top, see the vivid and colorful characters, sense the tension build as Arbuzov readies to face off against the American.

Moscow and Muscovites
November 26, 2013

Moscow and Muscovites

Vladimir Gilyarovsky's classic portrait of the Russian capital is one of Russians’ most beloved books. Yet it has never before been translated into English. Until now! It is a spectactular verbal pastiche: conversation, from gutter gibberish to the drawing room; oratory, from illiterates to aristocrats; prose, from boilerplate to Tolstoy; poetry, from earthy humor to Pushkin. 

About Us

Russian Life is the 31-year-old publication of an award-winning publishing house that also creates books, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955