77-year-old Russian rocket scientist becomes third suspect in treason case with potentially lengthy sentences

Sergey Meshcheryakov, 77, works for TsNIIMash, the Russian research center that handles many of the country’s missile and rocket construction demands. In 2018, his then-75-year-old colleague Viktor Kudryavtsev was arrested on treason charges. Now, Meshcheryakov has joined Kudryavtsev as a suspect in the case; he has been placed under house arrest. Both TsNIIMash employees as well as a third colleague, Roman Kovalev, are reportedly suspected of emailing confidential information about hypersonic technologies to employees of a Belgian institute with whom they were collaborating. Russian scientists and human rights activists have expressed concern that if their colleagues are sentenced to prison time, they may spend the rest of their lives behind bars.