A court in Estonia has sentenced Russian citizen Artem Zinchenko to five years in prison for cooperating with Russian intelligence, according to the Estonian newspaper Postimees.
Zinchenko has lived in Estonia on a residence permit since 2013. The Estonian court determined that he was recruited by Russia’s Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) in 2009, and spent the next four years collecting information about troop movements in Estonia, and about objects of national importance.
Estonian intelligence workers first revealed in April that they apprehended a Russian spy, but the man’s name was not reported at the time. The arrest itself took place in early January 2017.
Zinchenko reportedly passed sensitive information to members of the GRU on multiple occasions, both by means of special communication and in person, on visits to St. Petersburg.
