A Russian-Spanish man freed in a latest prisoner swap was charged final week in Poland with spying for Moscow.
Pavel Rubtsov, often known as Pablo González, had lived in Poland since 2019 and was arrested days after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 within the Polish city of Przemysl, close to Ukraine’s border.
Sir Richard Moore, head of the UK’s overseas intelligence company MI6, mentioned on the 2022 Aspen Safety Discussion board that Rubtsov was arrested after “masquerading as a Spanish journalist” and that Rubtsov was making an attempt to enter Ukraine to assist with Russia’s destabilizing efforts there.
On August 1, Rubtsov was free of Polish detention in a historic prisoner change between a minimum of seven international locations. A complete of 24 prisoners had been exchanged, together with 16 launched by Russia and Belarus and eight launched to Russia by the West. Three People, together with Evan Gerskovich, a reporter for The Wall Avenue Journal, were released in the swap.
Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photograph through AP
The nationwide prosecutor’s workplace in Warsaw introduced on Wednesday {that a} prosecutor within the metropolis of Lublin, roughly a two-hour drive southeast of Warsaw, indicted Rubtsov on espionage fees on August 9.
Whereas the indictment filed to the District Courtroom in Przemysl solely recognized the defendant as Pablo G. Y. and Pavel R. due to Polish privateness legal guidelines, the small print make it clear that the case is said to Rubtsov.
Rubtsov was born in then-Soviet Moscow in 1982 and later went to Spain together with his Spanish mom at age 9. He acquired his Spanish identify, Pablo González Yagüe, when he turned a citizen of Spain. He has a background in journalism, working for shops Público, a Portuguese newspaper, La Sexta, a Spanish tv channel, and Gara, a Basque newspaper.
The nationwide prosecutor’s workplace mentioned Rubtsov allegedly supplied data to Russian military intelligence from April 2016 to February 2022 in Przemysl, Warsaw and elsewhere, “which may trigger harm to the Republic of Poland, together with as a NATO member state.”
Rubtsov can also be accused of “spreading disinformation and conducting operational reconnaissance.”
If discovered responsible, Rubtsov may serve three to fifteen years in jail.
Investigations into suspected co-conspirators are additionally underway, in keeping with the nationwide prosecutor’s workplace in Warsaw. A type of reportedly being investigated is a girl who was recognized solely as Magdalena Ch.
The Related Press (AP) reported that Magdalena Ch. is believed by journalists in Poland to be Rubtsov’s ex-girlfriend. The AP added that she refused to remark.
