Moscow Court Jails Man 23 Years for Alleged Spying for Poland

Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Friday that a Moscow court had convicted Russian national Georgy Pirogov of treason and sentenced him to 23 years in prison. The court also imposed a fine of 800,000 rubles ($9,500). The FSB's statement was circulated by state media outlets.

The verdict was first reported in mid-July by exiled outlet Mediazona, which cited an anonymous source. According to independent media reports, Pirogov moved to Georgia after Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine and worked as an industrial climber. In July 2024, he disappeared while on a business trip to Uzbekistan and reappeared days later at Moscow's Matrosskaya Tishina pre-trial detention facility. Neither Russian nor Uzbek authorities have explained how Pirogov was detained or transferred across international borders.

FSB video shared by state-run news agency TASS on Friday showed Pirogov being interrogated, during which he admitted to working with Polish intelligence. The footage also showed him being escorted into a courthouse and listening to the reading of his prison sentence.

The FSB claimed that Pirogov had initiated contact with Polish military intelligence after fleeing Russia. Security officials accused him of using contacts in the Russian defense sector to collect classified data on advanced missile systems and gathering personal information on individuals with security clearances. The agency further alleged that Pirogov made cryptocurrency transfers to the Ukrainian military and purchased and delivered ammunition from Poland to Ukraine.

No official explanation has been provided for how Pirogov came into Russian custody. The details of the case have so far come only from FSB statements and state media reports.