Russian Ex-reporter Now Space Aide Held For Treason

Moscow, July 7 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 7th Jul, 2020 ) :A high-profile Russian journalist who became an advisor to the head of the space agency was detained Tuesday on charges of treason for divulging state military secrets, authorities said.

Ivan Safronov, 30, was one of Russia's most high profile journalists reporting on defence and politics.

His arrest on charges that carry a maximum sentence of 20 years behind bars sparked an uproar among supporters.

Friends and former colleagues took to social media to denounce the charges as a response to his reporting, which had ruffled feathers among Russia's ruling elite. A number of journalists staged one-person pickets in Moscow.

Russia's Federal Security Services (FSB) published video footage of Safronov's arrest in Moscow, showing two plainclothes security personnel in masks escorting the former journalist into a van.

The FSB told state news agency TASS that Safronov had been found to be collecting confidential data about the Russian military, defence, and security and was "handing it over" to the intelligence service of a NATO member country.

The charges were unrelated to his work at Roscosmos, the space agency said in a statement, adding it was "fully cooperating with the investigative authorities".

Roskosmos chief Dmitry Rogozin said that Safronov "did not have access to secret information" as part of his work at the agency where he began working as an information advisor in May.

The Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Safronov was accused of "committing high treason" and "transferring secret information to foreign intelligence services".

He added that as far as the Kremlin was aware, Safronov's detention was not related to his previous work as a journalist.

"Our counterintelligence is very busy, has a lot of tasks, and does its job very well," Peskov said.