Summary

A Moscow court sentenced US citizen Gene Spector to 15 years in a strict-regime penal colony for alleged espionage, combining this with a prior bribery conviction.

Spector, a former business executive born in Russia, was already serving a reduced three-and-a-half-year sentence for facilitating bribes.

Details of the espionage charges remain secret, as the trial was held behind closed doors.

The case adds to growing tensions over Russia’s alleged “hostage diplomacy,” with Washington criticizing Moscow’s detention of Americans like journalist Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan on disputed charges.