Accused of treason, espionage or 'helping Ukraine'

• First and most important: talk about the case, and about anything you might be suspected of, only with a lawyer. Don't discuss it with family on the phone, in chats, with new acquaintances or with cellmates. Security services use messages, recordings of 'informal chats' and undercover officers. Don't delete or throw anything away without a lawyer: records stay with the bank and with the other person, and deleting things can be used against you.
• A lawyer. First Department (foreign agent) specialises in treason and espionage cases: write to its bot @deptonebot or ask your family to. The investigator often offers a state-appointed lawyer. By law you can refuse in writing and bring in your own. It is better to sign an agreement with a lawyer in advance and write their number on paper. In such cases the lawyer signs a non-disclosure undertaking, so your family may not learn the details for a long time.
• What people are tried for. Treason (art. 275 of the Criminal Code) carries 12 to 20 years or life. It is charged for sending money to Ukrainian foundations and the army, including in cryptocurrency, for messages with Ukrainian 'representatives', and for photos of military and industrial sites. For 'confidential cooperation' (art. 275.1, up to 8 years) the contact itself may be enough. Cases are opened over transfers made as far back as 2022.
• How people are found. The FSB learns of transfers from Russian cards through Rosfinmonitoring, and of transfers from foreign cards often when a phone is checked at the border. Cryptocurrency does not make a transfer anonymous: exchanges hand over data when security services ask. In August 2026 it emerged that Binance gave the Investigative Committee the full account history of a Russian who had lived in Bulgaria since 2015: passport and residence permit scans, balances, transfers. He was detained at Sheremetyevo on arrival in Russia. Living abroad does not protect you from such cases if you travel back. Many cases start with a provocation: officers write as 'Ukrainian soldiers' or the 'GUR' (Ukraine's military intelligence) to people who left anti-war comments and ask them to film something or send money. Don't reply to such offers.
• What to expect. According to First Department, at least 478 people were convicted under these articles in 2025, the median sentence under art. 275 was 15 years, and there has been no acquittal since 1999. The cases are almost always classified.
• Confession. The note to art. 275 CC exempts someone who reported to the authorities voluntarily and in time, but it is unclear how it is applied, and a confession made without a lawyer stays in the case file. Don't write a 'confession' without a lawyer. For family: First Department has a guide for relatives, Solidarity Zone (foreign agent) helps organise parcels and letters, and First Line has psychologists.

current as of 27 September 2026. More: First Department: data on treason and espionage cases in 2025 (foreign agent); First Department: who was tried for transfers to Ukraine in 2025 (foreign agent); First Department: how people are provoked into 'treason' (foreign agent); First Department: shades of treason (arts. 275 and 275.1) (foreign agent); First Department: how to find and choose a lawyer (foreign agent); First Department: guide for relatives (foreign agent); Criminal Code, art. 275 and notes (ConsultantPlus, in Russian); OVD-Info: how anonymous are crypto donations (extremist); Mediazona: FSB officers posing as Ukrainians (the Gordey Nikitin case) (foreign agent); Meduza: Binance gave Russian investigators data on an IT worker living in the EU (17.08.2026, in Russian) (foreign agent, undesirable)