Valery Mitko

Lived in St. Petersburg. Scientist, specialist in hydroacoustics, president of the Arctic Public Academy. On 11 February 2020, he was sent under house arrest on charges of treason: according to the investigation, he passed secret information to China. Human rights defenders claim that he was only lecturing in China, using materials related to his scientific and teaching activities. In June 2021, Mitko was hospitalised with a microinfarction. In March 2021, the scientist was allowed to go for walks, but in August he was forbidden to go for walks again. In April 2022, Mitko was again hospitalised and underwent surgery for a chronic aortic aneurysm. The next hospitalisation occurred in September 2022, he was soon discharged in serious condition. The scientist died on 2 October 2022, less than two months after the start of his trial.