Russian Rights Lawyer Sentenced to 12 Years for Treason Over Alleged Ukraine Espionage

A court in Russia’s Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad has handed down a 12-year prison sentence to a 66-year-old human rights lawyer, Maria Bontsler, on charges of treason. Prosecutors alleged that Bontsler passed sensitive information to Ukraine. The verdict was delivered on Thursday, according to the rights group Slovo Zashchite, which noted Bontsler's work with numerous defendants facing political charges in Kaliningrad. The region is situated on the Baltic Sea, bordered by Lithuania and Poland.

A court statement released on Telegram, without naming Bontsler, stated that she was detained by the FSB intelligence agency. The allegations claim she began passing information to Ukraine in 2024 concerning security officers in Kaliningrad. The statement further alleged that she provided Kyiv with details on criminal cases within the exclave that were of interest to Ukraine. In addition to her prison term, Bontsler received an additional year of restrictions on her activities. Prosecutors had initially sought a 15-year sentence, as reported by Slovo Zashchite.

Slovo Zashchite indicated that the trial was conducted in camera, with Bontsler and her legal team excluded from proceedings, except for her final statement. Her lawyers reportedly argued that the information presented by the prosecution was not classified and that Bontsler had suffered from ill health while in detention.

Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, new legislation has been enacted, criminalizing actions deemed to “discredit” the army and prohibiting the dissemination of “fake news” about the armed forces. Russian courts have previously imprisoned lawyers who represented clients in politically charged cases. Notably, in January 2025, three lawyers representing the late opposition leader Alexey Navalny received sentences ranging from three and a half to five and a half years on “extremism” charges, a case widely interpreted as an attempt to deter defense attorneys from accepting politically sensitive cases.