Russian Court Sentences Couple for Espionage on Behalf of Ukraine

A Russian court in Kursk stated today, Tuesday, that it "sentenced two former defense industry workers in Russia to 17 and 13 years in prison for treason after they were convicted of disclosing military intelligence to Ukraine and planning to blow up railway lines." The Russian Federal Security Service indicated that the former couple, R.A. Sidorkin and T.A. Sidorkina, had participated in plans to blow up railway lines in the Kursk and Belgorod regions, which are used to send supplies to Russian troops fighting in Ukraine. The agency added that it had seized over four kilograms of plastic explosives, four detonators, military design documents, and $150,000 in cash. The security service arrested the two, who are former spouses, last month in the Kursk region near the Ukrainian border, accusing them of delivering documents and technical models used in the production of weapons systems for the Russian Air Force.