A judge in Moscow has ordered the pre-trial detention of a space researcher on treason charges, Russian media reported Sunday, marking the latest in a string of criminal prosecutions targeting Russian scientists.
Maxim Kravchuk, a 35-year-old aerodynamics specialist, works at the Central Research Institute of Machine Building (TsNIIMash), a Moscow-based research institution operating under the state space agency Roscosmos.
Kravchuk was arrested on June 24, according to the news outlet Ostorozhno Novosti. A judge at Moscow’s Meshchansky District Court subsequently ordered him held in pre-trial custody for two months while he awaits trial.
RBC reported that Kravchuk appealed the detention ruling on June 29, with an appeal hearing scheduled for July 29.
Under Russian law, treason investigations are classified as secret and held behind closed doors, leaving the specific allegations against Kravchuk unknown.
Ostorozhno Novosti reported that Kravchuk had traveled to Ukraine and Moldova twice each between 2016 and 2019.
Kravchuk is at least the fourth scientist from TsNIIMash to face treason charges since 2019, the outlet added.
According to the exiled news outlet Agentstvo, he is also at least the seventh Russian scientist to have faced criminal prosecution since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
