Russia charges three with treason, fearing US intelligence compromised cybersecurity chief

Prosecutors in Moscow suspect that US intelligence compromised one of Russia’s most senior cybersecurity officials and have charged him and at least two others with treason in the case, according to a lawyer involved.

The three were detained in December and include Sergei Mikhailov, who was a top official in the information-security division of the Federal Security Service, the main successor to the KGB, and Dmitry Dokuchaev, a member of his staff. The third suspect to be named publicly is Ruslan Stoyanov, a manager at Kaspersky Lab, a Russian cybersecurity company.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday the case isn’t linked to the alleged hacking of US political parties and election boards that roiled the presidential campaign last year. He called such charges — made by US intelligence late last year — “absurd insinuations.”

The three men have been charged with treason for allegedly “interacting” with US intelligence, said Ivan Pavlov, a defence lawyer in the case. He declined to name his client, citing confidentiality. “What we know is only the tip of the iceberg,” he said in an interview. “We have very limited access to information.”

The FSB didn’t respond to repeated requests for comment. Other lawyers in the case couldn’t be located. The suspects are all being held in pre-trial detention and face up to 20 years in prison if convicted, Pavlov said. Kaspersky last week confirmed Stoyanov’s arrest but said the alleged crimes didn’t relate to his work at the company and predated his employment there.

Stoyanov worked in cybersecurity at Russia’s Interior Ministry before joining Kaspersky. Once at the company, Stoyanov worked closely with Mikhailov’s department at the FSB, and the two interacted as part an anti-DDoS project the company developed for clients in Russia, according to a person familiar with the cybersecurity firm.