Russia begins criminal treason cases over photos of soldiers' graves
Russian authorities have opened treason cases against people in several regions for photographing the graves of soldiers killed in the war against Ukraine, alleging the images were passed to Ukrainian intelligence.
Russia has started opening criminal treason cases linked to the photographing of graves of soldiers killed in the war against Ukraine, Deutsche Welle reports, citing the outlet The Insider. Such cases are known to exist in at least the Yaroslavl and Tomsk regions, while in the Sverdlovsk region people photographing graves have been detained and surveillance at cemeteries has been increased.
On August 7, a case against a 48-year-old resident of Yaroslavl was submitted to the regional court. Prosecutors allege that since October 2024 he systematically visited a cemetery, secretly photographed and filmed the graves of Russian soldiers, and then sent the material to representatives of Ukrainian intelligence services.
In late June, several residents of the Tomsk region were detained on treason charges. According to Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB), they collected information about Russian servicemen, including the dead, for money on behalf of Ukrainian intelligence.
The outlet Mediazona had previously warned that someone had approached people claiming to represent the publication and asking them to photograph graves, though the outlet itself had nothing to do with this. According to Mediazona, Ukrainian scammers may have been behind these incidents; several times they reportedly tried to buy unpublished databases of dead Russian soldiers directly from the outlet. Mediazona editor Dmitry Treshchanin said the outlet does track Russian military losses and had previously asked readers and volunteers to send cemetery photos, but no longer recommends doing so given the current situation.
The Insider notes that the editor did not rule out that Russian security services themselves could be behind some of these requests. Mediazona has previously reported how an FSB officer, posing as a Ukrainian military intelligence agent, corresponded with Ryazan region resident Gordei Nikitin; the correspondence became the basis of a treason case, and Nikitin was sentenced to 17 years in prison.
Journalists from Mediazona and the BBC Russian Service, working with a team of volunteers, have previously determined that as of late July at least 236,066 named Russian servicemen had died in the war against Ukraine. The largest share were "volunteers" — 86,618 people. The deaths of 26,247 former convicts and 19,644 mobilized soldiers have also been confirmed. Journalists are also aware of more than 7,460 deaths among officers of the Russian army and other security agencies, including 15 generals.
