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Treason and espionage cases are rising in Russia since the war in Ukraine began

FILE - Oksana Sevastidi leaves Lefortovo Prison in Moscow, Russia, on Sunday, March 12, 2017. Sevastidi, a bakery worker in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, was convicted of treason and sentenced to seven years in prison after she sent a text message to a friend in neighboring Georgia about seeing military equipment carried on a nearby railway prior to Russia’s brief war in 2008 with its neighbor. President Vladimir Putin pardoned her in 2017. (AP Photo/Denis Tyrin, File)

FILE - Oksana Sevastidi leaves Lefortovo Prison in Moscow, Russia, on Sunday, March 12, 2017. Sevastidi, a bakery worker in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, was convicted of treason and sentenced to seven years in prison after she sent a text message to a friend in neighboring Georgia about seeing military equipment carried on a nearby railway prior to Russia’s brief war in 2008 with its neighbor. President Vladimir Putin pardoned her in 2017. (AP Photo/Denis Tyrin, File)

FILE - Ivan Safronov, an adviser to the director of Russia's state space agency, stands in a defendant’s cage in a courtroom in Moscow, Russia, on Thursday, July 16, 2020. Safronov, a former military affairs journalist, was convicted of treason and sentenced to 22 years in prison. Authorities accused him of passing military secrets to Czech intelligence and a German national, which he denied. The case has been widely viewed as retaliation for his reporting. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)

FILE - Ivan Safronov, an adviser to the director of Russia's state space agency, stands in a defendant’s cage in a courtroom in Moscow, Russia, on Thursday, July 16, 2020. Safronov, a former military affairs journalist, was convicted of treason and sentenced to 22 years in prison. Authorities accused him of passing military secrets to Czech intelligence and a German national, which he denied. The case has been widely viewed as retaliation for his reporting. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)

FILE - Ivan Safronov, an adviser to the director of Russia's state space agency, greets journalists while standing in a defendant’s cage in a courtroom in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2020, with two Federal Security Service officers sitting nearby. Safronov, a former military affairs journalist, was convicted of treason and sentenced to 22 years in prison. Authorities accused him of passing military secrets to Czech intelligence and a German national, which he denied. The case has been widely viewed as retaliation for his reporting. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)

FILE - Ivan Safronov, an adviser to the director of Russia's state space agency, greets journalists while standing in a defendant’s cage in a courtroom in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2020, with two Federal Security Service officers sitting nearby. Safronov, a former military affairs journalist, was convicted of treason and sentenced to 22 years in prison. Authorities accused him of passing military secrets to Czech intelligence and a German national, which he denied. The case has been widely viewed as retaliation for his reporting. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)

FILE - Oksana Sevastidi with her lawyers Evgeny Smirnov, right, and Ivan Pavlov, awaits a court hearing in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, March 15, 2017. Sevastidi, a bakery worker in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, was convicted of treason and sentenced to seven years in prison after she sent a text message to a friend in neighboring Georgia about seeing military equipment carried on a nearby railway prior to Russia’s brief war in 2008 with its neighbor. President Vladimir Putin pardoned her in 2017. (AP Photo, File)

FILE - Oksana Sevastidi with her lawyers Evgeny Smirnov, right, and Ivan Pavlov, awaits a court hearing in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, March 15, 2017. Sevastidi, a bakery worker in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, was convicted of treason and sentenced to seven years in prison after she sent a text message to a friend in neighboring Georgia about seeing military equipment carried on a nearby railway prior to Russia’s brief war in 2008 with its neighbor. President Vladimir Putin pardoned her in 2017. (AP Photo, File)

FILE - In this photo released by the Moscow City Court Press Service, Valery Golubkin, a physicist specializing in aerodynamics, stands in a defendant’s cage in court in Moscow, Russia, on Monday, June 26, 2023. Golubkin, 71, was arrested in 2021 and convicted of treason in 2023 and sentenced to 12 years in prison. Authorities accused him of passing state secrets abroad, but he and his lawyers insisted that he merely submitted research reports on an international project that didn’t contain any state secrets and were cleared for submission. (Moscow City Court Press Service via AP, File)

FILE - In this photo released by the Moscow City Court Press Service, Valery Golubkin, a physicist specializing in aerodynamics, stands in a defendant’s cage in court in Moscow, Russia, on Monday, June 26, 2023. Golubkin, 71, was arrested in 2021 and convicted of treason in 2023 and sentenced to 12 years in prison. Authorities accused him of passing state secrets abroad, but he and his lawyers insisted that he merely submitted research reports on an international project that didn’t contain any state secrets and were cleared for submission. (Moscow City Court Press Service via AP, File)