Russian Hypersonic Missile Development Scientist Arrested for Treason... Suspected of Leaking Secrets to China

[Image source=EPA Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] A Russian scientist involved in the development of hypersonic missiles has been arrested on charges of treason for leaking classified information to a foreign country. This is the third time this year that a scientist in the field of hypersonic missiles has been arrested in Russia, and it is suspected that the classified information was passed to China. As the competition for hypersonic missile development intensifies among the United States, China, and Russia, Russian authorities are concerned that more scientists may leak classified information to foreign countries.

According to Russia's TASS news agency on the 7th (local time), on the 5th, Dr. Aleksandr Sifryuk, director of the Institute of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics at the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, was arrested on charges of state treason and detained at the Lefortovo detention center in Moscow. Dr. Sifryuk is known as one of the leading authorities in Russia on hypersonic vehicle development and has primarily led wind tunnel experiments simulating hypersonic flight conditions.

This year, including him, three scientists affiliated with the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences involved in hypersonic missile development have been arrested consecutively. Earlier, at the end of June, Anatoly Maslov, a senior researcher at the same institute, was also arrested on charges of leaking classified materials to external parties.

Prior to that, Dr. Dmitry Kolker, a laser physics research expert at the institute, was arrested on suspicion of collaborating with Chinese security authorities. He was detained while battling pancreatic cancer and reportedly died two days after being imprisoned.

Russian authorities have not disclosed exactly which country the classified information was leaked to, but it is widely suspected that it was China. Since the 2010s, China has been known to recruit foreign scientists through an elite talent program called the "Thousand Talents Plan (TTP)," bribing and recruiting key personnel to obtain major military secrets.

Meanwhile, hypersonic missiles are missiles that fly through the atmosphere at speeds exceeding Mach 5 (approximately 6,120 km/h), capable of striking anywhere in the world within an hour. They fly at altitudes below 100 km and can perform evasive maneuvers, making them currently impossible to intercept with existing air defense systems.