Russia says hypersonic missile scientists face 'very serious' treason
accusations
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[May 17, 2023]
By Tatiana Gomozova and Lucy Papachristou
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Three Russian academics who have worked on hypersonic
missile technology face "very serious accusations", the Kremlin said on
Wednesday, in a treason investigation that has spread alarm through
Russia's scientific community.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he was aware of an open letter from
Siberian scientists in defence of the men, but that the case was a
matter for the security services.
In the letter, published on Monday, colleagues of Anatoly Maslov,
Alexander Shiplyuk and Valery Zvegintsev protested their innocence and
said the prosecutions threatened to inflict grave damage on Russian
science.
"We know each of them as a patriot and a decent person who is not
capable of doing what the investigating authorities suspect them of,"
they said.
President Vladimir Putin has boasted that Russia is the global leader in
hypersonic missiles, capable of travelling at speeds of up to Mach 10
(12,250 kph) to evade enemy air defences. On Tuesday, Ukraine said it
had managed to destroy six of the weapons in a single night, although
Russia disputed this.
Notices of academic conferences stretching back over many years show the
arrested scientists were frequent participants.
In 2012, Maslov and Shiplyuk presented the results of an experiment on
hypersonic missile design at a seminar in Tours, France. In 2016, all
three were among the authors of a book chapter entitled "Hypersonic
Short-Duration Facilities for Aerodynamic Research at ITAM, Russia".
The open letter from their colleagues at ITAM - the Khristianovich
Institute of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics in Novosibirsk - said the
materials the scientists had presented in international forums had been
checked repeatedly to ensure they did not include restricted
information.
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A Russian armoured personnel carrier and
S-400 surface-to-air missile systems drive past the Kremlin wall
after a military parade on Victory Day, which marks the 78th
anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two, in
Moscow, Russia May 9, 2023. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov/File Photo
The cases showed that "any article or report can lead to accusations
of high treason", the open letter said.
"In this situation, we are not only afraid for the fate of our
colleagues. We just do not understand how to continue to do our
job."
The letter also cited the case of Dmitry Kolker, another Siberian
scientist who was arrested last year on suspicion of state treason
and flown to Moscow despite suffering from advanced pancreatic
cancer. Kolker, a laser specialist, died two days later.
It said such cases were having a chilling effect on young Russian
scientists.
"Even now, the best students refuse to come to work with us, and our
best young employees are leaving science. A number of research areas
that are critically important to laying the fundamental groundwork
for the aerospace technology of the future are simply closing
because employees are afraid to engage in such research."
Asked about the letter, Kremlin spokesman Peskov said: "We have
indeed seen this appeal, but Russian special services are working on
this. They are doing their job. These are very serious accusations."
(Reporting by Tatiana Gomozova in Moscow and Lucy Papachristou in
Gdansk; writing by Mark Trevelyan; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
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