October 12th 2024.
Viktoria Mukhametova, a young Russian woman of 24 years, has been found guilty of treason for her involvement in selling confidential information from the tank factory where she worked to Ukraine. The court in Yekaterinburg, located in the Russian Urals, sentenced her to 12 and a half years in a penal colony, but she showed no emotion as the verdict was read.
Mukhametova had been working as a machine operator at UralVagon Factory, the world's largest battle tank company, located in the city of Nizhny Tagil in the Sverdlovsk region. It was there that she passed on classified "military and technical data" to Ukrainian officials in exchange for 100,000 roubles, or approximately £980. The data reportedly included technical drawings and blueprints.
After pleading guilty to the charges, Mukhametova and her husband were arrested by the FSB security service in March 2023. Her husband, Danil Mukhametov, is facing similar charges and is being tried separately. In a video of their arrest, she can be seen being questioned about what they planned to do with the money, to which she responded, "Just to live." Her husband was forcefully pinned to the ground by FSB agents during the arrest.
This incident is not the first time Russia has charged someone with espionage involving the same defense company. Earlier this year, Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was convicted of espionage and accused of gathering secret information about UralVagon Factory. However, both Gershkovich and his newspaper, as well as the US government, have denied the spy charges. He was eventually released on August 1st as part of a major East-West prisoner swap.
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