Russia has accused a dual Russian-German national and lawyer of treason.
Citing law enforcement agencies, state news agency TASS reported on Tuesday that German Moyzhes has been charged for assisting Russian citizens with obtaining EU residency permits.
The lawyer joins a growing list of foreign nationals and dual citizens who have found themselves caught up in the crisis in relations between Moscow and the West during the Ukraine conflict.
Moyzhes is being held in pretrial detention in Moscow’s notorious Lefortovo prison after being transferred from a detention centre in St Petersburg, TASS reported. It is not clear when his trial will begin.
It was previously reported that the lawyer, who was brought up partly in Germany but returned to Russia as an adult, had been arrested in St Petersburg in late May.
The German Federal Foreign Office confirmed Moyzhes’s arrest in June and said its embassy in Moscow was in contact with his family.
An official said at the time that Moscow had been denying Germany consular access to its jailed citizens for two years. Berlin remains “strongly committed to consular access in this and other cases,” the official added.
‘Hostage diplomacy’
Tensions have intensified between Berlin and Moscow since Russia launched its military offensive against Ukraine in February 2022.
Russia has accused Germany of signalling a return to the Cold War, by allowing the US to station long-range missiles in the country, and also directly assisting Ukraine in the war.
Germany has accused Russia of undermining its efforts to unify Europe’s response to the invasion, by carrying out sabotage, including espionage and cyber-warfare.
Moyzhes worked as a lawyer and managing partner for Avers Group Germany, a Cologne-based consultancy, according to the company website.
The website says the firm provides business support and property management services and also assists wealthy citizens of post-Soviet countries, including Russia, in obtaining German residency permits.
Treason charges can carry life sentences in Russia, where acquittals for serious crimes are rare.
People with citizenship from several Western states have been detained in Russia recently.
On Friday, Evan Gershkovich, a US citizen working as a reporter for The Wall Street Journal was sentenced to 16 years in prison for espionage. The same day, Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva received six and a half years for spreading false information about the Russian army.
Others with foreign citizenship have been detained accused of similar crimes, as well as petty crime and drugs charges.
Russia has indicated that it is open to the idea of arranging prisoner exchanges, claiming that contacts have taken place with Western states.
The US has in turn accused Russia of conducting “hostage diplomacy”.
