Russian citizen Robert Shonov has been sentenced to 4 years and 10 months in prison and fined 1 million rubles (around $10,000) for compiling media reports for the U.S. Embassy in Moscow.
Secret Collaboration with Foreign State
Russian authorities accused him of "secret collaboration with a foreign state," a charge critics argue is part of a growing crackdown on perceived foreign influence within Russia, according to Ziare.
The ruling also mandates an additional 16 months of restricted rights following his prison sentence.
Shonov, a former employee of the U.S. Consulate in Vladivostok, worked there for 25 years, eventually becoming head of the economic department.
In 2021, new Russian restrictions barred local citizens from working at foreign diplomatic missions, prompting him to resign.
However, he later accepted a contract role with the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, where his only task, according to Russian independent outlet The Moscow Times, was to compile daily news summaries from public Russian sources.
Expelled From Russia
Authorities arrested Shonov in early 2023, accusing him of receiving payments from the U.S. for supposedly providing sensitive information about Russia's war efforts in Ukraine.
At the time of his arrest, officials confiscated 400,000 rubles (about $4,000) and an electronic device he used for his work. His sentencing took place in Vladivostok's Primorye Regional Court in Russia's Far East.
This is not the first time such a sentence has ben passed on.
In September 2023, two U.S. Embassy employees, Jeff Sillin and David Bernstein, were expelled from Russia for alleged connections to Shonov, underscoring the sensitivity of his case.
The U.S. State Department has criticized the charges as baseless and maintains that Shonov's work was strictly limited to non-classified information accessible to the public.
