The Moscow City Court sentenced 37-year-old Moscow region resident Georgy Pirogov to 23 years in a maximum-security penal colony in a state treason case. Mediazona was informed of the ruling by a source familiar with the decision. In addition to the prison term, the court imposed a fine of 800,000 rubles.
It became known on May 25 that the case had begun to be heard in the Moscow City Court. The proceedings were held behind closed doors, and the details of the charges were not disclosed publicly.
According to the outlet, after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Pirogov moved to Georgia, where he found work as an industrial climber. In the summer of 2024, he traveled to Uzbekistan on a work trip and disappeared on July 6 in the city of Kungrad.
His car was later found in Nukus, about 90 kilometers from the Oasis hotel in Kungrad, where he had been staying. Pirogov’s relatives told the media that he had planned to travel to Bukhara and fly back to Georgia from there.
On July 9, 2024, it became known that Pirogov was already in Russia: Moscow’s Meshchansky District Court placed him in the Matrosskaya Tishina pretrial detention center on treason charges. A case card briefly appeared on the Moscow courts website during the day on July 8, but was later hidden.
It remains unknown who detained Pirogov in Uzbekistan, under what circumstances this happened, and how he was taken to Russia. The substance of the charges has also not been disclosed. In August 2024, during consideration of an appeal against his arrest, it emerged that Pirogov had admitted guilt, expressed remorse, and given confessional testimony.