The Kaliningrad Regional Court sentenced a Lithuanian citizen to 13 years and six months in a strict-regime colony after finding him guilty of espionage. The court's press service said the man lived in the Guryevsky district of the Kaliningrad region.
According to investigators, between 2011 and 2024 he collected and passed on "information constituting a state secret" that "could be used" against Russia's security. The court did not specify to whom the information was given. Prosecutors said the man is 48 years old. In determining the sentence, the court took into account his severe chronic illnesses.
Meduza noted that, according to the case file, hearings were repeatedly postponed because the defendant failed to appear due to illness. The outlet suggested the man may be Alexander Polyachkov, a native of the Lithuanian city of Klaipeda who was sent to a pre-trial detention center on espionage charges in June 2021. According to Meduza, acquaintances described him as a "big businessman," and the company Amberus, where he had been general director since 2014, processed precious stones and produced jewelry.
Russian courts regularly sentence foreign citizens on espionage charges. Radio Liberty noted that such cases are often used for subsequent prisoner exchanges with Western countries. In 2025, 14 people were convicted under this article.