Former US consulate employee in Russia sentenced to nearly 5 years in prison

A Russian former employee of the US consulate in Russia's Far Eastern city of Vladivostok has been sentenced to four years and ten months in prison for "secret collaboration with a foreign state", Russian agencies said Friday.

Robert Shonov worked for more than 25 years for the US consulate until 2021, when Moscow imposed restrictions on local staff working for foreign missions.

Afterward, he worked as a private contractor compiling press accounts from publicly accessible Russian media, according to the US State Department.

He was arrested in 2023 on suspicion of passing secret information about Russia's war in Ukraine to the United States in exchange for money.

According to the judgment published on the website of Primorye's regional court, 400,000 roubles (€4,000) and an electronic device were seized.

In September 2023, Russia also expelled two US diplomats it accused of acting as liaison agents for Shonov.

The US State Department said that Shonov worked as a private contractor compiling press accounts from publicly accessible Russian media, "in strict compliance with Russia's laws and regulations".

"The allegations against Mr. Shonov are wholly without merit," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in response to the charges.

In recent years, several US citizens have been arrested and sentenced to long jail terms in Russia. Others are being held pending trial.

Washington, which supports Ukraine militarily and financially against Russia's invasion, accuses Moscow of wanting to exchange them for Russians held in the United States.

The United States and Russia exchanged prisoners including The Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich in a landmark swap in August, but several US nationals and dual nationals remain in detention in Russia.