Russian courts in 2026 have begun handling cases related to state security more quickly and issuing verdicts in them more often. This was reported by the human rights group First Department, which analyzed data for the first quarter of the year.
According to the researchers, during the first three months of 2026, 143 cases under state security articles reached the courts. By the end of the quarter, 62 of them, or 43%, had already been completed. In the same period of 2025, courts received 125 such cases and finished 32 of them, or 26%. The study says that figure was 1.7 times lower.
In January through March 2026, courts issued at least 107 verdicts in these cases and convicted 110 people. The highest number of verdicts came in March, with 48. First Department says this was the highest monthly figure recorded in the entire observation period.
The main charge remains Article 275 of the Russian Criminal Code, treason: 90% of defendants were convicted under it. The average sentence under that article, according to the rights group, is 15 years and 5 months.
There were 55 working days in January, February, and March 2026. Compared with the number of convicted defendants, that means Russian courts sentenced two people on average every working day.
“Military courts have become the busiest courts in Russia, and to cope with the flow of ‘terrorism’ cases they are forced to plan their work very precisely. In practice, this means hearings are scheduled months in advance and a set amount of time is allotted to each case, often a single hearing,” said First Department lawyer Yevgeny Smirnov.
The study also notes that in 2025, Russian courts sentenced 468 people on charges of treason and espionage. According to the human rights group, that was the highest figure ever recorded.