Russia Sentences Former US Consulate Worker to Nearly 5 Years in Prison

FILE - In this photo taken from video released by Lefortovo District Court, Robert Shonov, a Russian national who worked at the now-closed US consulate in Vladivostok for more than 25 years, is escorted by officers to the court room at the Lefortovo District Court in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, May 18, 2023. (Lefortovo District Court via AP, File)
FILE - In this photo taken from video released by Lefortovo District Court, Robert Shonov, a Russian national who worked at the now-closed US consulate in Vladivostok for more than 25 years, is escorted by officers to the court room at the Lefortovo District Court in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, May 18, 2023. (Lefortovo District Court via AP, File)
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Russia Sentences Former US Consulate Worker to Nearly 5 Years in Prison

FILE - In this photo taken from video released by Lefortovo District Court, Robert Shonov, a Russian national who worked at the now-closed US consulate in Vladivostok for more than 25 years, is escorted by officers to the court room at the Lefortovo District Court in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, May 18, 2023. (Lefortovo District Court via AP, File)
FILE - In this photo taken from video released by Lefortovo District Court, Robert Shonov, a Russian national who worked at the now-closed US consulate in Vladivostok for more than 25 years, is escorted by officers to the court room at the Lefortovo District Court in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, May 18, 2023. (Lefortovo District Court via AP, File)

A court in Russia's far-eastern city of Vladivostok on Friday convicted a former US Consulate worker charged with cooperating with a foreign state and sentenced him to four years and 10 months in prison.
Robert Shonov, a Russian citizen and former employee of the US Consulate in Vladivostok, was arrested in May 2023. Russia's top domestic security agency, the FSB, accused him of “gathering information about the special military operation" in Ukraine, a partial call-up in Russian regions and its influence on "protest activities of the population in the runup to the 2024 presidential election.”
The US State Department last year condemned the arrest and said the allegations against Shonov “are wholly without merit,” The Associated Press reported.
Shonov was charged under a new article of Russian law that criminalizes “cooperation on a confidential basis with a foreign state, international or foreign organization to assist their activities clearly aimed against Russia’s security.” Kremlin critics and human rights advocates have said it is so broad that it can be used to punish any Russian with foreign connections. It carries a prison sentence of up to eight years.
The State Department has said Shonov worked at the US Consulate in Vladivostok for more than 25 years. The consulate closed in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic and never reopened.
The State Department has said that after a Russian government order in April 2021 required the dismissal of all local employees in US diplomatic outposts in Russia, Shonov worked at a company the US contracted with to support its embassy in Moscow.
State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in May 2023 that Shonov’s only role at the time of his arrest was “to compile media summaries of press items from publicly available Russian media sources.”
Shonov was held in the Lefortovo Prison in Moscow, notorious for its harsh conditions, pending investigation, but stood trial in Vladivostok's Primorsky District Court.

In addition to a prison term, which Shonov was ordered to serve in a general regime penal colony, the court ruled that he must pay a fine of 1 million rubles (just over $10,000) and face additional restrictions for 16 months after finishing his prison sentence.



Netanyahu: Israel Today Has More Freedom of Action in Iran Than Ever

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant attend a ceremony for the 70th cohort of military combat officers, at an army base near Mitzpe Ramon, Israel, October 31, 2024. REUTERS/Amir Cohen
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant attend a ceremony for the 70th cohort of military combat officers, at an army base near Mitzpe Ramon, Israel, October 31, 2024. REUTERS/Amir Cohen
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Netanyahu: Israel Today Has More Freedom of Action in Iran Than Ever

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant attend a ceremony for the 70th cohort of military combat officers, at an army base near Mitzpe Ramon, Israel, October 31, 2024. REUTERS/Amir Cohen
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant attend a ceremony for the 70th cohort of military combat officers, at an army base near Mitzpe Ramon, Israel, October 31, 2024. REUTERS/Amir Cohen

Israel is able to reach anywhere in Iran should the need arise, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday.

Netanyahu, in a speech to new military officers, said that Israel has unprecedented freedom of action following its recent airstrikes against Iran.

"Israel today has more freedom of action in Iran than ever. We can reach any place in Iran as necessary," Netanyahu said. "The supreme goal I gave to the Israel Defense Forces and the security branches is to prevent Iran from achieving a nuclear weapon."

Israel attacked military targets in Iran with pre-dawn airstrikes Saturday in retaliation for the barrage of ballistic missiles Iran fired on Israel earlier this month. It was the first time Israel’s military has openly attacked Iran.

Israel is widely thought to be behind a limited airstrike in April near a major air base in Iran that hit the radar system for a Russian-made air defense battery. Iran had earlier fired a wave of missiles and drones at Israel, causing minimal damage, after two Iranian generals were killed in an apparent Israeli airstrike on an Iranian diplomatic post in Syria.