2023-05-19 19:53:15
In a published letterMonday, May 15, on the site of the Khristianovich Institute of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics (ITAM), Russian researchers of the structure denounced the arrests of their colleagues Anatoly Maslov, 76, Alexander Shipliouk, 57, and Valery Zvegintsev .
These three scientists belong to ITAM, integrated into the Siberian branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in Novosibirsk. Anatoly Maslov was arrested on June 28, 2022 in Novosibirsk and remanded to Lefortovo prison in Moscow, reports Kommersant. Alexander Shipliouk was arrested a month later. Valery Zvegintsev was arrested at the end of April.
They are subject to“very serious charges” which fall under thearticle 275 of the Russian Criminal Code (“high treason”, punishable by a prison sentence of 12 to 20 years), declared, on Wednesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. He confirmed that he was aware of an open letter written by the colleagues of these scientists, but recalled that the matter fell within the competence of the security services, the FSB.
Published in scientific journals
In the text published on Monday, the researchers claim the innocence of the three scientists: “We know that each of them is a patriot and an honest person, incapable of doing what the authorities suspect them of. » They insist that the papers presented by Maslov, Shipliuk and Zvegintsev in international symposiums and publications have been repeatedly checked to ensure that they do not contain restricted information.
So, in 2012, Maslov and Shipliuk presented the results of an experiment on the design of hypersonic missiles at a seminar in Tours. In 2016, all three were among the authors ofan article on the high-velocity wind tunnel tests carried out in their laboratory. According to the Reuters agency, Anatoli Maslov’s work concerned in particular the way in which gas behaves around physical objects – such as missiles or planes – at supersonic speeds.
In their letters, their colleagues also mention the case of Dmitri Kolkerarrested on June 30, 2022 for “high treason” while suffering from a terminal cancer. Taken to Moscow, he died there two days after his arrival. He was accused of having provided the People’s Republic of China data containing state secrets.
These accusations show that “any article or report can lead to charges of high treason”, write the ITAM researchers. They continue: “In this situation, we not only fear for the fate of our colleagues. We just don’t understand how to keep doing our job. »
Scientists finally claim that such cases have a chilling effect on young Russian scientists: “Even today, the best students refuse to come and work with us and our best young employees leave science. A number of research areas that are critically important for future aerospace technologies are closing down simply because young researchers are afraid to engage in such research. »
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