{"id":64810,"date":"2026-09-01T12:50:39","date_gmt":"2026-09-01T09:50:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/memopzk.org\/news\/kolichestvo-del-za-gosizmenu-i-shpionazh-v-etom-godu-prevysilo-kolichestvo-del-za-vse-dovoennye-gody-pervyj-otdel\/"},"modified":"2026-09-01T18:23:43","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T15:23:43","slug":"number-of-high-treason-and-espionage-cases-this-year-exceeds-total-for-all-pre-war-years-says-first-department","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/memopzk.org\/en\/news\/number-of-high-treason-and-espionage-cases-this-year-exceeds-total-for-all-pre-war-years-says-first-department\/","title":{"rendered":"Number of \u2018high treason\u2019 and \u2018espionage\u2019 cases this year exceeds total for all pre-war years, says First Department"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Russian courts convicted <strong>284 people<\/strong> in cases involving \u2018high treason\u2019 and \u2018espionage\u2019 during the first half of 2026. This exceeds the total number of convictions recorded in all the years before Russia\u2019s full-scale invasion of Ukraine (<strong>170 convictions<\/strong>). If the current pace continues, the total number of people convicted under these charges could approach <strong>600 by the end of the year<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Key findings<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The number of convictions under Articles 275 (\u2018high treason\u2019), 275.1 (\u2018confidential cooperation with a foreign state\u2019), 276 (\u2018espionage\u2019) and 276.1 (\u2018providing assistance to the enemy\u2019) rose from <strong>111 in the first quarter <\/strong>to <strong>162 in the second<\/strong> \u2014 an increase of <strong>46% <\/strong>in just three months. A total of <strong>170 people <\/strong>were prosecuted under these provisions during the second quarter.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>May 2026<\/strong> was the busiest month on record, with <strong>57 convictions<\/strong> \u2014 the highest monthly figure since the current Russian Criminal Code came into force in <strong>1997<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>During the first six months of the year, Russian courts heard cases involving<strong> 284 people <\/strong>and handed down<strong> 273 convictions<\/strong> \u2014 <strong>26% more<\/strong> than during the same period in 2025, when <strong>216 convictions<\/strong> were recorded.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>With <strong>62 working days<\/strong> in the second quarter, Russian courts convicted almost <strong>three people a day<\/strong> on average of \u2018high treason\u2019 or \u2018espionage\u2019.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The number of <strong>new cases<\/strong> also continued to rise: <strong>149<\/strong> were brought before the courts in the first quarter, compared with <strong>202<\/strong> in the second, an increase of <strong>36%<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u2018High treason\u2019 charges are increasingly being combined with terrorism-related offences (Articles 205\u2013205.5). In the second quarter, this applied to <strong>71 <\/strong>of the <strong>170 defendants (41.8%)<\/strong>. By contrast, the proportion of cases involving sabotage-related offences (Article 281 and related provisions) fell from <strong>14.9% <\/strong>to <strong>7.1%<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Proceedings remain highly opaque: the identities of almost three-quarters<strong> (74%)<\/strong> of those convicted have not been made public.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The <strong>average sentence<\/strong> is approaching <strong>16 years<\/strong> in a penal colony, while two defendants were sentenced to life imprisonment.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>During the first half of 2026, at least <strong>73 Ukrainian nationals<\/strong> were convicted, accounting for around a quarter of all those sentenced.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The full report in Russian is available on <a href=\"https:\/\/dept.one\/story\/2026-2kvartal\/\">the First Department website<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","class_list":["post-64810","news","type-news","status-publish","hentry","news-type-nashi-novosti-en"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Number of \u2018high treason\u2019 and \u2018espionage\u2019 cases this year exceeds total for all pre-war years, says First Department - Political prisoners support. 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