Russian Policeman Gets 15-Year Sentence For Spying For U.S.

A court in Moscow has convicted a Russian police officer from Siberia on charges of spying for the United States and sentenced him to 15 years in prison.

The Moscow City Court on March 5 found Roman Ushakov from the city of Krasnoyarsk guilty of treason by handing Interior Ministry's classified documents to the CIA for $37,000.

The prosecutors presented what they said were messages containing sensitive information about the Interior Ministry, and a cache disguised as a rock containing cash and an alleged letter from the CIA.

The accused pleaded guilty.

The court also stripped Ushakov of the rank of police major.

The conviction is the latest in a host of spy cases amid Russia-West tensions over Ukraine.

In January, Sveltana Davydova, a mother of seven from the city of Vyazma, was arrested and charged with treason.

Investigators said Davydova had telephoned the Ukrainian Embassy officials last year and told them that soldiers from a base near Vyazma might be being sent to Ukraine.

She was released in February after a public outcry, but her trial is pending.

Based on reporting by rapsinews.ru and AFP