A Russian-Israeli historian has been indicted in Israel on multiple espionage charges after being held in secret detention for more than a month.
Artyom Kirpichenok, 51, was taken into custody by the Israel Security Agency on Aug. 2 upon arrival at Ben Gurion International Airport from Russia, according to Russian media reports. He now sits in the maximum security wing of Ayalon Prison while his case proceeds under a strict Israeli gag order that limits what can be published.
Kirpichenok’s lawyer, Inna Lebedinskaya-Katz, told Russian newspaper Izvestia that the charges are extraordinarily severe. “Artem is charged with espionage under several articles that cannot be disclosed yet. These are the most serious crimes against state security,” she said.
The historian faces accusations including contact with foreign intelligence operatives, and Russian reports indicate he visited Iran on multiple occasions. Izvestia reported that he spent two weeks there in the fall of 2018. Prosecutors allege that foreign intelligence agencies instructed him to carry out clandestine missions and influence operations against the State of Israel, Ynet reported. Authorities have also filed a request to detain him until the end of proceedings.
Born in St. Petersburg, Kirpichenok immigrated to Israel in the 1990s and lived there for roughly 15 years before returning permanently to Russia, according to Ynet. His academic work centers on Zionism and Middle Eastern history, and he has authored at least two books on Israeli affairs. Ynet noted that his works include “A People’s History of Israel,” which addresses the history of Palestine and the establishment of the Jewish state, and “Israel: The Road to Catastrophe,” which examines Israeli domestic and foreign policy through a historical lens.
Russian media accounts describe Kirpichenok as a consistent critic of Israeli hostility toward Iran and of Israel’s policies toward Palestinians in Gaza and Judea and Samaria. This political stance has become part of the public profile emerging around a case that Israeli authorities have largely kept sealed.
Family members and supporters maintain Kirpichenok’s innocence, though the gag order means little official information about the evidence against him has been released. The Sept. 4 indictment marks the first formal step in a legal process that could extend for months given the detention request and the classified nature of the charges.
The case carries added significance because of Kirpichenok’s dual citizenship and his documented travel to Iran, a country Israel considers a primary security threat. His background as an academic rather than an intelligence professional has drawn attention to how Israeli security services are scrutinizing connections between Russia and Iran.