Russia on Friday sentenced a worker at a weapons plant to eight years in jail for handing over secret information to foreign intelligence, the RIA Novosti news agency reported. The Sverdlovsk regional court found Alexander Gniteyev guilty of treason and he will serve his term in a high-security prison, it cited a court statement as saying. He was also ordered to pay a fine of 100,000 rubles ($32,500). Earlier this month, a law enforcement source told the Interfax news agency that the employee at a defence facility in the Urals had been charged with espionage for disclosing data on the Bulava, Russia’s latest submarine-launched ballistic missile. The intercontinental nuclear-capable missile was developed to replace Russia’s Soviet-era stock. Gniteyev went on trial this month in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg with hearings closed to the public. The court’s website lists his case but does not detail the charges.
