A Moscow court has convicted a Serb national of collecting Russian military secrets for U.S. intelligence and sentenced him to eight years in prison, Interfax reported Friday.
Alexander Georgievic was accused of teaming up with Russian businessman Viktor Kalyadin in 1998 to collect information about the Blokada, Khrizantema-S and Iskander short- and mid-range missile systems, and about the R-500 supersonic missile and the Arena tank armor protection system, Interfax said, citing the Moscow branch of the Federal Security Service.
Investigators said Kalyadin and Georgievic sold technical documentation about the Arena, stolen from its producer, the Tula Machine Design Bureau, to a representative of U.S. company General Dynamics Systems, U.S. citizen Farid Rafi, whom investigators suspect acted on the orders of U.S. intelligence services. Kalyadin was sentenced to 14 years in prison on espionage charges in 2002. He died in jail after suffering a heart attack in 2004.
Georgievic, who left Russia in 1998, was lured back and arrested at Sheremetyevo Airport upon arriving from Belgrade in November 2007, Interfax said.
It was unclear when Georgievic had been sentenced by the Moscow City Court. The FSB said Georgievic had been motivated by money and had admitted in court to collecting and passing classified information to Rafi.
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