Russian courts convicted a record number of citizens for treason in 2024, as the Kremlin intensified its crackdown on perceived internal threats amid the ongoing war in Ukraine and heightened tensions with the West.According to the independent investigative outlet IStories, 145 Russian citizens were convicted of treason last year.
That figure is nearly four times higher than the number of convictions in 2023 and the highest recorded in modern Russian history, the outlet said.Russian courts also convicted 23 citizens of espionage in 2024, IStories reported a 2.5-fold increase over the previous year.The number of Russians convicted for confidential cooperation with a foreign state, a charge introduced in 2022 shortly after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, also rose sharply.
Twenty-one individuals were found guilty on this charge, marking a tenfold increase from the previous year.At least 209 people were convicted in 2024 under laws governing the disclosure or mishandling of state secrets, a one-third increase from the previous year.In December 2024, the news outlet RTVI reported that at least 28 people had been convicted of espionage that year.
Of those, 18 were Ukrainian nationals, seven were Russians and two were American citizens.The same month, President Vladimir Putin called on the Federal Security Service (FSB) to intensify efforts to root out traitors and foreign operatives within Russia."You must swiftly suppress the activities of foreign intelligence services, actively combat those who orchestrate sabotage and terrorist attacks and detect spies and traitors," he said in a video address to security service officers on their professional holiday.