A Russian official has been arrested for high treason after being accused of spying.

Aleksandr Vorobyov, the accused spy, at a court appearance. RT/Sputnik.

A high ranking Russian official has been arrested for high treason after being accused of spying. RT. Aleksandr Vorobyov was a deputy to Vladimir Putin's envoy to the Urals, Nikolay Tsukanov, one of 8 federal districts in Russia. The post is important and Vorobyov was relatively high up in terms of power and prestige. Court proceedings have been private but Russian media are reporting that Vorobyov was caught with a Polish passport and "spy equipment" and that he may have been recruited by Polish intelligence services years ago. Vorobyov was the first person charged with high treason in at least 10 years and may be the first government official charged with treason since the fall of the Soviet Union.

My Comment:

Interesting story out of Russia and one that the international media isn't really covering. AP had a small article but it was fairly lacking details, so I went with a Russian perspective instead. You would think a big spy case where the suspect showed up in court wearing a ski mask would be a bigger story but I guess not. 

I am guessing that Vorobyov was one of Polish intelligence's biggest success stories. Vorobyov was pretty high up in the ranks. His boss, Nikolay Tsunkanov used to work for Vladimir Putin directly before he was promoted to the Urals post, which was even more important. He probably had access to a lot of classified and important information and Vorobyov likely sent it all to the Poles. 

Losing Vorobyov as an intelligence source is going to be a pretty big blow to Poland. They are unlikely to easily find a new source to feed them information and any sources they do develop are going to be paranoid that they will be caught as well. Right now they are trying to figure out how Vorobyov got caught, which is the same question I am asking. 

From what I understand, treason isn't punished that severely in Russia. Unlike the United States where treason is a capital crime, Russia punishes treason comparatively mildly. The sentence is 12 to 20 years after being convicted, but to be fair that will be in a Russian prison, which aren't country clubs to say the least. Treason is easier to prove in Russia then it is in America due to the stringent standards in the American constitution. And even if treason was a capital crime in Russia, the country has a moratorium on executions in the first place. 

There hasn't been any discussion as to why Vorobyov betrayed his country. Generally speaking people commit espionage for several reasons. Ideology is one of them, but that seems unlikely with the cold war over, unless he really just didn't like Vladimir Putin. It may have been simple greed instead or perhaps he was blackmailed. Either way spying for a different country is always going to be a huge problem when it is discovered. 

As for Poland, they really should have tried to get Vorobyov out. Perhaps they did and simply failed, but not getting him out has implications for them in the future. New spies are going to be hard to find depending on how severely Vorobyov is punished and they know that Poland won't necessarily be able to help them if they are discovered. 

Russia must be happy that they caught this guy. He probably did quite a bit of damage to Russia's interests and relations with Poland. Though every country spies on every other country, that doesn't mean that you don't crack down on people that get caught. I have no doubt that if convicted Vorobyov will get the largest punishment allowed by Russian law.