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Former FSB Officer Handed 14 Years For Passing Secrets to China

Dmitry Serebryakov / TASS

A former FSB officer in Siberia has reportedly been convicted to 14 years for passing state secrets to China.

Investigators accuse Maxim Kondratyev of passing thumb drives detailing FSB activities to China’s Ministry of State Security between 2006 and 2008, according to Russian media reports. His trial began September last year.

“The court found Kondratyev guilty and convicted him to 14 years confinement in a high-security penal colony,” the state-run TASS news agency cited a court spokesperson as saying Tuesday.

Kondratyev has been stripped of his military rank, the Zabaikalsky Regional Court spokesperson said. The spokesperson added that Kondratyev’s accomplice, another ex-FSB operative Namsaray Dambayev, was handed eight years in high-security detention center.

Dambayev served as an intermediary between Kondratyev and China’s Ministry of State Security, the Lenta.ru news website reported in September. Both former operatives were reportedly paid 200,000 yuan ($31,580).

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