Russia detains head of hypersonics research facility in treason case - TASS

[August 12, 2021]  MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia has detained the head of a research facility that specialises in hypersonic technology in Moscow on suspicion of state treason, the TASS news agency cited a source as saying on Thursday.

Russia's Federal Security Service will ask a court to hold him in custody for two months, the report said. It named him as Alexander Kuranov, whose profile on the Hypersonic Systems Research Facility's site says he is a specialist in hypersonic technology.

Russia, whose ties with the West have spiralled to post-Cold War lows since 2014, has been developing a number of hypersonic weapons in recent years that President Vladimir Putin has touted as unparallelled.

A lawyer for Kuranov could not immediately be reached for comment.

A Tsirkon (Zircon) hypersonic cruise missile is fired from the guided missile frigate Admiral Gorshkov in the White Sea in this still image taken from video released July 19, 2019. Russian Defence Ministry/Handout via REUTERS

A number of Russian scientists, soldiers and officials have been charged with treason in recent years after being accused of passing sensitive material to foreign countries.

Critics of the Kremlin say the charges are often unfounded and cannot be scrutinised because they are classified.

(Reporting by Maxim Rodionov; writing by Tom Balmforth; Editing by Kevin Liffey)

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