Moscow [Russia], September 3 : A physicist who worked on hypersonic weapons technology was found guilty of treason by a Russian court, reported Al Jazeera.
According to Russia's TASS news agency, the Moscow court found Alexander Shiplyuk guilty in a closed-door trial on Tuesday and sentenced him to 15 years in a prison colony.
He was the most recent team member to be prosecuted who worked on military technologies.
In addition, the court condemned Shiplyuk to a further 1.5 years of limited freedom and fined him 500,000 rubles (USD 5,650), according to Russian news agency TASS. Not much is known about the accusations made against Shiplyuk, who oversaw the Khristianovich Institute of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics in Novosibirsk, Siberia.
Citing Russian media, Al Jazeera reported that Shiplyuk was accused of passing information to foreign officials on hypersonic technology, cutting-edge weapons capable of carrying payloads at up to 10 times the speed of sound to punch through air defence systems.
Shiplyuk is one of the almost twelve scientists who have been accused of treason in the last several years, the Al Jazeera report added.
Numerous individuals from his establishment, which asserts to be officially recognised as a component of Russia's military-industrial complex, have been charged.
Previously in May, Anatoly Maslov, a 78-year-old Shiplyuk coworker, was given a 14-year term for treason.
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