Russia Sentences Ex-US Consulate Employee to Nearly 5 Years in Prison

A former U.S. consulate worker was sentenced to nearly five years in prison in Russia this week over charges relating to cooperation with a foreign state.

The former consulate worker, identified as Robert Shonov, was sentenced by a court in the Russian city of Vladivostok on Friday.

Robert Shonov

Shonov, a Russian national and former employee of the U.S. Consulate in Vladivostok, was arrested in May 2023. Russia’s FSB, the top domestic security agency, charged him with “gathering information about the special military operation” in Ukraine, monitoring a partial mobilization in Russian regions and assessing its impact on “population protest activities” ahead of the 2024 presidential election.

Shonov faces charges under a recent Russian law that prohibits “cooperation on a confidential basis with a foreign state, international or foreign organization to assist their activities clearly aimed against Russia’s security.”

Critics and human rights advocates argue that the law’s sweeping language allows it to target any Russian with international ties. The offense carries a prison sentence of up to eight years.

The U.S. State Department noted last year that Shonov had been employed at the U.S. Consulate in Vladivostok for over 25 years. The consulate was shuttered in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and has remained closed since.

Following an April 2021 directive from the Russian government mandating the dismissal of all local staff at U.S. diplomatic missions in Russia, the State Department said Shonov began working for a contractor supporting the U.S. Embassy in Moscow.

In 2023, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said that at the time of his arrest, Shonov’s role was “to compile media summaries of press items from publicly available Russian media sources.”

Shonov was detained in Moscow’s Lefortovo Prison, known for its severe conditions, while under investigation. His trial, however, took place in the Primorsky District Court in Vladivostok.

Alongside his prison sentence to be served in a general-regime penal colony, Shonov was fined 1 million rubles (just over $10,000) and will face further restrictions for 16 months following his release, according to the court’s ruling.

Response to Shonov’s Sentence

In a statement on Friday, the U.S. Embassy in Moscow condemned the charges against Shonov, saying the accusations against him are “completely false and unfounded.”

“The criminal prosecution of Mr. Shonov only underscores the campaign of intimidation the Russian government is increasingly taking against its own citizens,” the U.S. Embassy in Moscow added in its statement.

This article includes reporting from The Associated Press.