(Reuters) – Two former defense officials were sentenced in Russia to 17 and 13 years in prison for treason on Tuesday after being found guilty of passing military intelligence to Ukraine and planning to bomb trains, the Kursk Regional Court said in a statement.
The couple, who had been married, were arrested last month by the FSB security service in the Kursk region, near the Ukrainian border, and accused of providing technical documents and models used in the manufacture of weapons for the Russian air force.
In a statement announcing their arrest, the FSB said the pair, identified as RA Sidorkin and TA Sidorkina, were involved in plans to blow up railway lines in the Kursk and Belgorod regions used to supply Russian forces fighting in Ukraine.
It said it seized more than 4 kg (9 pounds) of plastic explosives, four explosives, military design documents and $150,000 in cash.
Sidorkin, 50, was also charged with illegal possession of firearms and ammunition, and was sentenced to 17 years. Sidorkina, 41, was sentenced to 13 years.
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(Reporting by Lucy Papachristou; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
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