MOSCOW, Nov. 11 (UPI) -- A Moscow military court Monday convicted a Russian intelligence officer of spying for the United States and sentenced him to eight years in a maximum-security prison.
Col. Alexander Sypachyov was arrested last April by Russia's Federal Security Service, the FSB, while transferring top-secret documents to a foreign agent, Russian news agencies reported.
An FSB statement at the time of his arrest claimed a CIA operation had been foiled and that the United States had attempted to "establish links with a specialist from the secret defense ministry establishment."
Sypachyov's trial was closed to the public. A brief statement issued by the official RIA Novosti news agency said he had been charged under Article 275 of the Russian criminal code, which deals with espionage, and had been found guilty of transferring state secrets to CIA representatives.
The military court stripped Sypachyov of his rank upon sentencing.
Military analysts who wished to remain anonymous said the CIA has intensified efforts to obtain information on Russia's advanced Shkval high-speed torpedo and has sought details of Russian military ties with formers Soviet states. Sypachyov is understood to have had access to sensitive information in both these areas.
While the military prosecutor's office did not identify the intelligence service or country Sypachyov was accused of spying for, comments by officials broadcast by state-owned media left no doubt they thought the CIA was involved.
