Hypersonic Missile Tech: Top Russian Scientist Accused Of Leaking Secret To Beijing

Head of Siberia’s Khristianovich Institute of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, ITAM, Alexander Shiplyuk, arrested on treason suspicion, has been accused of leaking betraying secrets to China.

Shipyluk, along with two others Hypersonic technology experts, are alleged to have leaked the secret to Russia’s neighbour, China, in 2017.

Quoting individuals familiar with the case, Reuters said the 56 year-old scientist has however, denied the accusation, insisting that the information wasn’t classified, being freely available online already.

“He is convinced of the fact that the information was not secret, and of his own innocence,” Reuters quotes one of its sources as saying.

Though the nature of Shipyluk’s arrest is still largely unknown, his is one of the latest in the string of arrests conducted by Russia in recent times for allegedly betraying secrets to Beijing.

Security experts are watchful for possible “betrayal of Motherland” was the response by Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, gave when asked about the accusation against Shipyluk and other cases related to the leak to China.

“This is very important work. It is going on constantly and it is hardl possible to speak here about any kind of arrest,” he added.

Dmitry Kolker was arrested in 2022 in Siberia and charged with treason for allegedly handing over secrets to China. Kolker, a Laser scientist, died two days later of cancer related ailment even as family insists he is innocent of the charges against him.

Yet, Alexander Lukanin, another scientist from Tomsk, a Siberian city, was also arrested in 2022 on suspicion of passing technology secrets to China, as reported by TASS, the Russian news agency.

Lukanin has been sentenced to seven and half years in prison over his alleged crime.

Similarly, Valery Mitko, another scientist, who heads the Arctic academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg, was accused of equally passing secrets to China, his regular destination point for lectures. Like Kolker, Mitko died two years after his arrest while still under house arrest.