A Moscow court on Wednesday ordered a prominent economics professor and former Kremlin adviser to be held in pre-trial detention for two months following his earlier arrest on charges of treason.
Vadim Saltykovsky, 60, was arrested by police last week, joining a growing list of academics, scientists and former officials charged with treason or espionage since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Moscow’s Lefortovo District Court ruled for Saltykovsky to be held in pre-trial detention until Sept. 29. Details of the charges have not been made public, and treason cases in Russia are typically held behind closed doors.
Treason carries a maximum sentence of life in prison for men.
Investigative media outlets, citing leaked documents, reported that Saltykovsky had served as chief Kremlin adviser on relations with post-Soviet states in the early 2000s.
Before his arrest, he served as deputy director of the State University of Management. He was also a professor at the Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, but his profile has since been removed from the university’s website.
Outside of academia, Saltykovsky held the post of deputy chairman of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s committee on economic cooperation with Asia and Oceania. In that role, he participated in a March 2025 meeting in Pyongyang between the Kursk Chamber of Commerce and North Korean officials.
According to the BBC’s Russian service, Saltykovsky has published academic work on China and previously worked as a political consultant at the Nikkolo M agency, advising the Kremlin on foreign election processes and political lobbying.
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