MOSCOW: A Russian physics professor who specialised in hypersonic aircraft was sentenced to 12 years in jail on Friday after a court found him guilty of high treason.

Anatoly Gubanov was detained in Moscow in December 2020 on charges related to transferring secret information to a European country, state media reported.

His jailing comes after his colleague, Valery Golubkin, was also sentenced in June to 12 years for treason.

Treason trials are typically classified in Russia.

Around a dozen Russian scientists have been charged with treason in the past six years, sparking unease and fear in the country’s academic community.

Critics have warned the arrests are part of a broader trend of state paranoia that could hamper future research and cause a brain drain of expertise.

Published in Dawn, October 28th, 2023