The FSB indicted the MAI associate professor Alexei Vorobyov for high treason on the basis of “Chinese dust” in his phone

The FSB has filed treason charges against MAI associate professor Alexei Vorobyov on the basis of dust particles from the “Chinese region” in his phone. About it report Open Media with reference to the scientist’s lawyer Valeria Vetoshkina.

As it became known from the unclassified part of the verdict, the basis for the charges was a polymorphological examination of the Institute of Criminalistics of the Center for Special Equipment of the FSB. She found “dust particles from China” on the memory card of Vorobyov’s phone, which contained a photo of one of his abstracts. Based on this, the investigation concluded that in November 2018 Vorobyov was in the PRC and decided to transfer information constituting a state secret to an employee of the Harbin Polytechnic University.

The scientist’s defense emphasizes that the investigation did not establish either the fact of the transfer of information, or the beneficiary, or the time of transfer. The case deals with scientific papers on the RD-0146 engine, which are in the public domain.

Vorobyov was accused of treason after the seizure of his dissertation on digital modeling of the operation of a liquid-propellant rocket engine under the heading “secret” during a search. It was he who was on the memory card with particles of “Chinese dust”. The scientist filmed the document in order to work with it at home, violating the rules for handling state secrets, but this cannot be qualified as a crime.

A criminal case against Vorobyov was opened on February 14, 2019, he was detained the next day, and on February 16, the Meshchansky court, at the request of the FSB, arrested him. The case against Vorobyov arose after a user of one of the forums asked him to send the remote control from the Su military aircraft to China. Vorobiev earned money by mailing radio parts, and the defense believes that Vorobiev could have become a victim of a provocation by FSB officers. At the same time, the Federal Service for Technical and Export Control does not consider the console to be military products.

In April, the court sentenced Vorobyov to 20 years of strict regime, having found him guilty of high treason. Vorobyov was also found guilty of preparation for illegal export from Russia or transfer of raw materials, materials, equipment, technologies, scientific and technical information or the provision of services that could be used in the creation of weapons of mass destruction, weapons and military equipment, as well as attempted arms smuggling , materials that can be used to create weapons or strategically important goods, resources, cultural values, wild animals and biological resources as part of an organized group. in the case of treason, as well as preparation for the illegal export of equipment, information or services that can be used in the creation of weapons. An appeal in the case of the scientist will take place on August 19.