A former Russian employee of the US consulate in Vladivostok, Russia’s far east, has been sentenced to four years and ten months in prison for “secret collaboration with a foreign state,” according to Russian media.
Robert Shonov served for the US consulate for over 25 years until 2021, when Moscow restricted local staff from working for foreign missions.
According to the US State Department, he then worked as a private contractor, gathering press accounts from publicly available Russian media.
He was arrested this year on accusations of transmitting classified information about Russia’s war in Ukraine to the United States in exchange for money.
According to the decision posted on Valdivostok’s Primorye court’s website, 400,000 roubles (€4,000) and an electronic equipment linked to the crime were seized.
Russia expelled two US diplomats in September 2023, accusing them of working as Shonov’s liaison agents.
According to Washington, Shonov was simply recruited by the US consulate to conduct normal monitoring of openly accessible Russian media.
In recent years, several U.S. citizens have been arrested and sentenced to long jail terms in Russia. Others are being held pending trial.
In a historic swap in August, the United States and Russia exchanged inmates, including The Wall Street Journal writer Evan Gershkovich, while numerous US nationals and dual nationalities remain in Russian custody.
