Translated material
Golubkin Valery Nikolaevich
April is the Golubkin family’s favorite month: not only because of the first warmth and sun, but also because of Cosmonautics Day, which is considered a home holiday in the family of a specialist in hypersonic flow around aircraft elements. Now, probably, they love the second month of spring a little less: it was in April at the traditional six in the morning that FSB operatives came to them to “inspect the premises.” They spent the whole working day looking for something, ransacked the entire apartment, took away all the equipment and that same extensive family photo archive. After waiting until summer, they searched the dacha. And by the new year, Valery Nikolaevich’s boss, Anatoly Gubanov, was arrested. He was accused of treason.
As we can see, there were more than enough alarm calls - but it never occurred to Golubkin to hide. He had nothing to hide: the international project to create a supersonic civil aircraft did not contain any secret information, and Golubkin did not have access to state secrets of such a level that involves reading documents classified as “top secret.” The report that he sent to foreign partners consisted exclusively of information published in open sources - this was confirmed by both the institute and external commissions. Nevertheless, a year after the “inspection of the premises,” they came to his home again - and this time they took him with them. It was Cosmonautics Day - April 12, 2022.
To this day, Valery Nikolaevich is in prison. In the Lefortovo pre-trial detention center, he suffered a severe form of COVID-19. His wife Svetlana gave Valery food, medicine, and new glasses. The grandchildren wrote letters to Santa Claus asking him to free his grandfather. Investigator Alexander Chaban frightened Golubkin with violence in the cell and the imminent death of his wife. In his pre-trial detention cell, Valery Nikolayevich solved charades, read a lot and slept peacefully - because, according to him, he is no longer afraid that they will come with a search.
Since December 2023, Valery Nikolaevich has been in colony No. 9 in Petrozavodsk. There he is serving a sentence imposed by the court - 12 years of strict regime.
April 13, 2021
On the day of astronautics, they came to the scientist’s home with a search, accused him of treason and sent him to the Lefortovo pre-trial detention center.
September 2021
Golubkin’s health sharply deteriorated in the pre-trial detention center - vision problems arose - the lawyers managed to obtain permission for the scientist to be examined by a civilian ophthalmologist.
December 8, 2021
Lawyers received the results of a psychological and psychiatric examination of Golubkin, the scientist was declared sane.
December 2021
The petition demanding the release of Golubkin was signed by Viktor Shenderovich, Zoya Svetova, Sergei Smirnov, Anton Dolin and others.
December 2021
A 6-year-old boy wrote about this in a letter that he sent to Veliky Ustyug.
June 26, 2023
Golubkin was sentenced to 12 years of strict regime. He did not admit guilt.
September 26, 2023
The court's decision was upheld.
April 2024
The ECHR issued a decision in the scientist's case. The European Court of Human Rights agreed with the arguments of the lawyers that the period of detention of Doctor of Technical Sciences Valery Golubkin exceeded reasonable limits. According to the ECtHR decision, the excessively long detention of the elderly scientist while the investigation was ongoing was based on assumptions; the courts did not take into account the personal circumstances of the applicant, which made escape or reoffending unlikely. The ECHR awarded Valery Golubkin €1,600 in compensation for moral damage.
Photo: Alexandra Astakhova / Mediazona
April 17, 2024
The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation overturned the appeal ruling in the case of Professor Valery Golubkin: “The criminal case was sent for a new trial to the court of appeal. Now the verdict is not considered to have entered into legal force and is subject to verification. The reversal of any court decision, and even more so an appellate ruling in cases of treason, is not just a rare, but actually an unprecedented phenomenon. However, we are cautiously optimistic about the prospects for the Valery Golubkin case. The decision of the Supreme Court has not yet been received and we do not know the reasons for its decision; the court may “get caught” on a formal violation that will not affect the final result. We know for certain that Golubkin’s actions do not contain any corpus delicti, he acted strictly according to the law, and his imprisonment deals a blow not only to the judicial, but also to the scientific community in Russia,” lawyer Evgeny Smirnov commented on the court’s decision.
June 19, 2024
The First Court of Appeal of General Jurisdiction in Moscow upheld the sentence of 12 years in a maximum security colony for Valery Golubkin.
Photo: Alexandra Astakhova / Mediazona
January 15, 2025
The verdict was left unchanged. The cassation hearing in the Supreme Court was closed due to secrecy.
Photo: Alexandra Astakhova / Mediazona
Other news
- December 25, 2021 The story of Doctor of Science Valery Golubkin, who was appointed a state traitor and refused to incriminate others
- February 1, 2024 “Stroke Putin’s ego.” How and why the FSB imprisoned a dozen physicists in the hypersound case
- Study July 11, 2022 How the state persecutes Russian scientists for treason. Cold Research
- Video July 17, 2023 How the FSB ruined the life of science patriot Valery Golubkin
