Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, regularly brags that his nation is the world leader in the development of hypersonic weapons, which can travel faster than sound by more than five times.
However, in recent years, a number of Russian physicists who were working on the science behind them have been accused of treason and put in jail in what rights groups saw as an excessive crackdown.
Three of those detained have since passed away, while most are elderly. One passed away shortly after being taken from his hospital bed while suffering from advanced cancer.
Russian Town Of Tomsk
Another is the 68-year-old scholar Vladislav Galkin, whose southern Russian town of Tomsk was raided in April 2023.
According to relative, armed men wearing black masks arrived at 4:00 and began searching through cabinets and grabbing documents that had scientific formulas on them.
Tatyana, Mr. Galkin’s wife, claims she has informed their grandsons, who enjoyed playing chess with him, that he is currently on a business trip. She claims that she is not allowed to discuss his situation because of an order from the FSB, Russia’s security agency.
Twelve physicists who are connected to hypersonic technology or organizations that develop it have been detained since 2015.
They are all accused of high treason, which includes giving foreign nations access to national secrets.
It is unclear exactly what they are accused of in Russian treason trials because they take place behind closed doors.
Statement Made By The Kremlin
The only statement made by the Kremlin was that “the accusations are serious” and that it is unable to comment further due to the special services involved.
Colleagues and defense attorneys, however, assert that the scientists had no role in the construction of weapons and that some of the cases stem from their open collaboration with international researchers.
Critics also assert that the FSB wishes to convey the idea that foreign agents are searching for secrets related to weaponry.
Missiles classified as hypersonic may move quickly through the air and change course while in flight to avoid air defenses.
Russia claims to have employed the Kinzhal, which is fired from an airplane, and the Zircon cruise missile in its conflict with Ukraine.
Nonetheless, Kyiv claims that some of its missiles have been shot down, casting doubt on the rockets’ capabilities.
The arrests have persisted even as the technology has been developed and implemented.
Mr. Galkin was remanded in court on the same day as Valery Zvegintsev, another scientist with whom he had co-authored multiple publications, shortly after his arrest in April 2023.
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