Court grants early release to traitor Pjotr Volin

The Harju County Court has granted early release to Pjotr Volin, convicted in 2019 of treason and passing internal information to the Russian military intelligence agency GRU. Photo: Mihkel Maripuu

The Harju County Court has granted early release to Pjotr Volin, convicted in 2019 of treason and passing internal information to the Russian military intelligence agency GRU, with Volin's release thus coming a little over a year before the end of his prison term.

The court believes that the time Volin has already served in prison -- over four years and nine months -- has made him realize the significant consequences that follow his criminal act, which greatly restrict his daily life and well-being, and that he has also drawn the necessary conclusions from his unlawful behavior.

The probationary period for Volin's conditional release will last until Sept. 3, 2024, which was originally the end date of his prison sentence. He has been behind bars since Sept. 3, 2018. During the probationary period, he must regularly report to a probation officer at the East-Harju probation supervision division of Tallinn Prison. He needs to obtain permission from the probation officer to change his place of residence, work, or study. He is also not allowed to leave Estonia without permission.

Volin's release from prison is not yet final, as the decision by the Harju County Court on Monday can be contested within 15 days. The court previously considered Volin's early release in October 2022 but decided against it at the time.

In February 2019, the Harju County Court found two men, 38-year-old Deniss Metsavas and his father, Pjotr Volin, then aged 65, guilty of treason and forwarding of internal information to a foreign country.

In a settlement proceeding, Metsavas was handed a prison sentence of 15 years and six months, while Volin was given a sentence of six years. The taking into custody of Metsavas and Volin in September 2018 was considered as the beginning of the sentence.

According to the charges, Metsavas and Volin aided the Russian military intelligence agency GRU in nonviolent activity against Estonia and collected and forwarded Estonian state secrets, classified external information and internal information to the GRU.

Metsavas carried out the crimes against the state over a period of more than 10 years, while Volin's activity lasted for approximately half of that time and his role was also significantly smaller. In addition to the aforementioned crimes, Volin was also convicted of two crimes involving the illegal handling of ammunition.

Most of the information was information covered by the state secret of Estonia as well as internal information. The illegal activity of Metsavas and Volin predominantly took place in Estonia and Russia. Communications channels as well as meetings were used to hand over the information and the men also received remuneration for that.