In Russia, 2026 has set an absolute record for the number of people convicted in cases related to state security, a Vyorstka study finds

In Russia, 2026 has set an absolute record for the number of people convicted in cases related to state security, a Vyorstka study finds

After 2022, charges in cases of treason, espionage, and cooperation with a foreign state to Russia’s detriment were brought against at least 1,904 defendants. Vyorstka identified 1,498 of them and compiled the most complete card index on these cases.

Here is what we found out:

💜In the first six months of 2026, 312 people were convicted in cases related to state security, 43 more than a year earlier. This is an absolute record.

💜Only 4% of all defendants in these cases could have had access to state secrets.

💜A third of the defendants are effectively random Russians, while a little less than a third are Ukrainian citizens, and only about 2% are citizens of other countries.

💜After 2022, at least 15 Russian scientists were charged with treason; 10 of them were 60 or older at the time of arrest.

💜The average sentence for treason rose from 12 years in 2022 to 16 in the first half of 2026. At least 10 people have been sentenced to life imprisonment, four of them in absentia.

💜At least 13 people arrested after 2022 in cases related to state security died in custody.

Read about how investigations into state security cases are structured, who is most often accused of what, and why the security forces need this on Vyorstka’s website (with VPN):

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Vyorstka

1,904 spies and traitors to the motherland after 2022. A major Vyorstka study on persecution in cases related to state security

Vyorstka identified the names of 1,497 defendants in treason and espionage cases — this is the most complete list of the accused