Russia sees traitors everywhere. Here are the data from the courts. “On average two sentences per working day”
In 2025, Russian courts issued at least 458 verdicts in such cases, and the total number of convicted persons was at least 478 – calculated by Parubiec Analytics analysts for the Pervy Otdel (First Division) organization. “Throughout the year, the courts issued an average of two judgments every working day,” we read in the study. These are cases conducted under articles on “high treason”, “espionage”, “confidential cooperation with foreigners” and “providing assistance to the enemy”. Compared to 2024, the scale of repression increased by 24%.and again no acquittal was recorded.
Most cases still concerned Art. 275 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“high treason”) – 376 people were sentenced on its basis, which constitutes 78.7%. all cases. Joke. 276 (“espionage”) sentences were given to 58 defendants (12.1%), pursuant to Art. 275.1 (“confidential cooperation with foreigners”) – 38 people (7.9%). New rule 276.1 (“providing assistance to the enemy”) was applied only once. As analysts note, the prosecutor's office regularly seeks to reclassify cases from the milder Article 275.1 to “high treason”, which indicates a general trend of tightening judicial practices.
One of the key trends is a sharp increase in the role of military courts: their sentences account for almost 40 percent. all decisions – 178 decisions, which is a record result. This is due to the widespread practice of combining charges: cases of “high treason” and “espionage” are more and more often considered together with articles relating to “terrorism”, which by law fall within the jurisdiction of military courts. This cumulative qualification concerned at least 166 convicts.
Courts conceal the identities of convicts
Court practice remains as secret as possible: 81.8 percent. cases – 391 out of 478 – the names of the convicts are not disclosed. Moreover, courts have also started removing personal data from previously published materials.
Despite this, analysts managed to determine the identity of 383 people, which constitutes 80.1 percent. all matters. Among them were 140 Ukrainian citizensand another 24 defendants could not be identified; at the same time, 72 convicted Ukrainians are listed as missing.
The penalties have become significantly more stringent. The median sentence for high treason is 15 years in prison, for espionage – 14 years, and for “confidential cooperation” – 5 years. At least four people were sentenced to life imprisonment: Yegor Semyonov, Mikhail Repin, Nikolai Dzhos and Sergei Semenets. The harshest sentence of less than life imprisonment – 27 years in a penal colony – was received by Vyacheslav Popovych, a citizen of Russia and Ukraine.
