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.

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