‘Spymania’ grips Russian security services amid sharp rise in treason cases

The recent arrest of a number of high-profile scientists has led the scientific community to fear they are being targeted by the Kremlin

As Russia’s war in Ukraine has grown into an existential conflict for the Kremlin over the past 15 months, its search for internal enemies has intensified, with a sharp rise in treason cases that experts have equated to a “spymania”.

While many of the treason cases focus on those allegedly fighting for or aiding Ukraine, others have burrowed into seemingly loyal state institutions such as the scientific research centres that helped research the very weaponry that Russia is using to strike Ukraine.