Novosibirsk, Russia - A Russian court on Friday upheld the jail term of Robert Shonov, a former US consulate worker sentenced to almost five years for "secret collaboration with a foreign state."

Shonov, a Russian citizen, worked for more than 25 years at the US consulate in the far eastern city of Vladivostok until 2021, when Moscow imposed restrictions on local staff working for foreign missions.

He was arrested in 2023 on suspicion of passing secret information about Russia's military offensive against Ukraine to the US in exchange for money, and sentenced to four years and ten months prison in November 2024.

"The judicial act was upheld," a court in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk ruled, according to its website, rejecting an appeal Shonov had made against his sentencing.

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The US strongly condemned the conviction last year, calling it an "egregious injustice" based on "meritless allegations."

In September 2023, Russia expelled two US diplomats it accused of acting as liaison agents for Shonov.

In recent years, several US citizens have been arrested and sentenced to long jail terms in Russia. Others are being held pending trial.

Washington, which supports Ukraine militarily and financially against Russia, accuses Moscow of arresting Americans on baseless charges to use as bargaining chips in prisoner exchanges.

Even after a landmark prisoner swap in August, several US nationals and dual nationals remain in detention in Russia.