Russia sentences 20-year-old to 12 years for state treason

A court in Russia has sentenced a 20-year-old resident of the Murmansk region to 12 years in a high-security penal colony after convicting him of state treason.

The verdict was announced by the regional prosecutor’s office through its official Telegram channel.

According to the court’s findings, the young man gathered publicly available information online in 2024 and 2025 concerning the locations of Russian military facilities in the Murmansk region.

Investigators determined that he intended to transmit the collected data via a messaging application to a representative of Ukrainian intelligence. The attempt was prevented by officers of Russia’s Federal Security Service.

The court found the defendant guilty, while prosecutors from the Murmansk Region Prosecutor’s Office supported the charges under Article 275 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which concerns state treason.

By Tamilla Hasanova