The lawyer of Valery Golubkin, accused of high treason, said that the case was opened because of the scientist’s open reports

Valery Golubkin, a Russian scientist and employee of the Zhukovsky Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute (TsAGI), is accused of high treason. A criminal case was initiated in connection with his participation in an international project with a European institution, reported For Interfax, the scientist’s lawyer Ivan Pavlov. According to him, we are talking about the Hexafly-Int project (High-Speed ​​EXperimental FLY Vehicles – High-speed experimental aircraft).

“The FSB saw treason in the fact that Golubkin took part in an official international project, under a contract between TsAGI and a European institute, during which, at the direction of his superiors, he sent reports on the work performed. All these reports received permits confirming the absence of sensitive information in them, ”Pavlov said. According to him, the client does not admit his guilt.

Valery Golubkin was detained and arrested in April 2021 and has been in custody ever since. On April 15, he was charged with treason.

At TsAGI, Golubkin was a specialist in aerodynamics and heat transfer of aircraft. Prior to his arrest, he worked as a leading researcher in department No. 11 of the research department 2 (NIO-2). The head of this department, Anatoly Gubanov, was arrested in the case of treason in December 2020.

An Interfax source said in April that Golubkin was in the same case as Gubanov and was suspected of transmitting classified information to one of the NATO countries.

In addition to TsAGI, before his arrest, Golubkin collaborated with the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT), where he worked at the Department of Theoretical and Applied Aerohydromechanics.

Hexafly-Int (High-Speed ​​Experimental FLY Vehicles – INTernational), according to official information, is a draft of the 7th European Framework Program for research on the concept of a hydrogen-fueled passenger aircraft capable of flying at high speeds. The project started in 2014 and was completed in 2019. Scientists from the Netherlands, Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, Great Britain, Russia and Australia took part in the project. Their work was coordinated by the European Space Agency (ESA) based in France.