Russian Ex-Officer Gets 18 Years In Jail For Selling State Secrets To U.S.

The Moscow Military District Court has sentenced retired Federal Security Service (FSB) Colonel Valery Mikhailov to 18 years in jail for divulging state secrets to the United States.

Mikhailov was also stripped of his colonel rank and all state awards.

On June 8, the court found him guilty of establishing contacts with the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) while working in the FSB, and providing the CIA with materials classified as top state secrets.

In May, a former Russian army colonel was sentenced to 12 years in jail for selling what was described as "secret" maps to a U.S. agent.

In another similar case, a Russian rocket scientist was sentenced in February to 13 years in prison for providing secret data to the United States,

Based on reporting by Interfax and ITAR-TASS