Russian citizen in Estonia sentenced to five years prison for espionage
The Harju County Court in Estonia sentenced Artem Zinchenko, a Russian citizen residing in the Baltic republic, to five years of imprisonment on charges of espionage for Russia. This was reported by ERR news agency.
According to the report, Zinchenko was found guilty of crimes against Estonia. According to the charges, Zinchenko was recruited by the Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces (formerly GRU) in 2009. Between 2013 and 2017, he allegedly collected information about state defense objects and other vitally important services in Estonian territory. He also allegedly monitored the deployment of the military equipment of the defense forces of Estonia and its allies.
According to Arnold Sinisalu, director of the Estonian Internal Security Service (KaPO), the Russian citizen who is accused of collaborating with the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Russian Armed Forces was arrested in Estonia on January 9. It is the first accusation of this kind in the republic.
The Russian embassy to Estonia stated that it is aware of the arrest of a Russian citizen on those charges, but that the citizen has not approached them for help with diplomatic representation.