The Moscow Second District Military Court has convicted geophysicist and archaeologist Andrei Veryanov, sentencing him to 24 years in a maximum-security prison on charges of state treason (Criminal Code Article 275) and involvement with a terrorist organization (Criminal Code Article 205.5 Part 2). BBC's Russian service reported the verdict.
As disclosed by the publication, the judgment was actually issued on May 23. Like other treason cases, Veryanov's trial was conducted behind closed doors.
Prosecutors alleged that Veryanov had connections with the "Freedom of Russia Legion" and participated in activities against Russian air defense systems - specifically by "assembling and operating drones to generate decoy targets near Russian Defense Ministry installations."
Authorities arrested the scientist in Moscow on December 5, 2023. Later that month, Moscow's Lefortovo District Court ordered his detention, according to First Department's reporting.
Veryanov had resided and conducted research in Peru for over two decades before returning to Russia in 2019 to care for an ailing family member. As he described it, circumstances kept him there - first due to the pandemic, then because of the Ukraine conflict.
A prominent figure in his field, Veryanov led a 2012 archaeological team studying Sacsayhuaman, the Inca citadel and temple complex near Cusco, Peru. During this work, he made several significant discoveries that shed light on the destruction patterns of the ancient indigenous capital, as noted by First Department.