Safronov Ivan Ivanovich

7 July 2020 in Moscow, FSB officers detained 30-year-old former journalist and advisor to the head of Roscosmos Dmitry Rogozin, Ivan Safronov. He was accused of treason. According to the security forces, Safronov was recruited in 2012, and in 2017, through the internet, he allegedly transmitted to a "representative of Czech intelligence" abroad from his home computer, using encryption tools, information about Russia's military-technical cooperation with African countries, as well as information about the activities of the armed forces in the Middle East region. Lefortovo District Court of Moscow placed the journalist in a pre-trial detention center. Later, another charge appeared in the case: according to the investigation, in December 2015, Safronov passed information about the activities of the Russian Armed Forces in Syria to political scientist Demuri Voronin (previously also convicted under the article on treason). According to the FSB, the political scientist forwarded this information to representatives of the University of Zurich in Switzerland and the intelligence service of the Federal Republic of Germany. In the opinion of the FSB, this information could have been used to analyze the actions of Russian troops in Syria. Safronov himself denies the accusation and claims that the criminal prosecution is related to his work as a journalist. On September 5, 2022, the Moscow City Court found Ivan Safronov guilty and sentenced him to 22 years in a strict regime colony and a fine of 500 thousand. roubles and 2 years of restricted freedom. On December 7, 2022, the First Appellate Court of General Jurisdiction left the sentence unchanged.