MOSCOW, August 2. /TASS/. Russian scientist from the Central Research Institute of Machine-Building (TsNIImash), Viktor Kudryavtsev, who was pressed with high treason charges, is suspected of sharing classified information with a foreign science organization - the von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics in Belgium, Kudryavtsev’s lawyer Yevgeny Smirnov told reporters.

"We studied the case materials, which are not about the country, but about the organization with which TsNIImash cooperated. This is the von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics. There was an agreement signed between them and approved by the Russian government," the lawyer said.

Ahead of launching a criminal case against Kudryavtsev, employees of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) questioned scientist Vladimir Lapygin, who had been earlier convicted for treason and is serving his sentence and "who was Kudryavtsev’s coordinator in TsNIImash", he said. "The case materials contain a report of intelligence services on the essential elements of the offense. It is clear from the report that there was communication with Lapygin," Smirnov stressed.

Candidate of Technical Sciences Kudryavtsev was arrested on July 19. As soon as the scientist was detained, investigators made the decision to search the offices of TsNIImash and other facilities. As the TsNIImash press office told TASS, the investigative team has no questions to the research institute’s current management, as the investigation relates to the 2013 events. According to a TASS source, the investigators charge Kudryavtsev with sharing secret information via email correspondence.