Polish prosecutors indict Russian spy released in prisoner exchange

Polish prosecutors have issued an indictment against the Russian-Spanish journalist, Pavel Rubtsov – who went by the name Pablo González – detained in Poland in 2022 on suspicion of spying for Moscow.

That means he should face trial. But, given that he was returned to Moscow earlier this month as part of the prisoner exchange between Russia and the West, it is almost certain that this will not happen.

In the same announcement, the National Prosecutor’s Office also confirmed that a woman, named only as Magdalena Ch. under Polish privacy law, is facing proceedings for collaborating with Rubtsov during his time in Poland. She was identified earlier this week as a Polish journalist.

Rubtsov was detained in Poland near the Ukrainian border in February 2022, shortly after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. He was charged with espionage and subsequently held in pretrial detention until his release this month, when he returned to Russia.

In a statement on Wednesday announcing their indictment of Rubtsov, prosecutors said that he is “accused of, from April 2016 to February 2022, in Przemyśl, Warsaw and elsewhere, providing Russian military intelligence with information that could have been harmful to Poland, including as a NATO member state”.

“The accused’s activities included obtaining and providing information, spreading disinformation and conducting operational reconnaissance,” they added. If found guilty, he could face a prison sentence of between three and 15 years.

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However, Gazeta Wyborcza, a leading newspaper, notes that under Polish law, for crimes of this type, the accused must attend at least the first court hearing, at which the indictment is read to them, before a trial can proceed.

“This means that a trial cannot begin without the participation of the person accused of the crime,” criminal lawyer Marek Mucha told the newspaper.

It appears almost certain that Rubtsov – who was among the prisoners welcomed personally on the runway by Vladimir Putin when they arrived back in Russia – would not participate in the trial.

Prosecutors also confirmed that Rubtsov was born in Moscow in 1982 and holds both Russian and Spanish citizenship. Media reports have indicated that Rubtsov moved to Spain as a child, taking the name of Pablo González, under which he later launched a career as a journalist.

In their statement, the National Prosecutor’s Office added: “Evidence regarding other cooperating persons (including against the suspect Magdalena Ch.) have been excluded [from the case against Rubtsov and moved] to separate proceedings, which are being continued.”

Earlier this week, a report by Frontstory, an investigative journalism outlet, revealed that, during his time living in Warsaw, Rubtsov had formed a romantic relationship with a Polish journalist, who was then detained with him in February 2022 and charged with being an accessory to his espionage.

Frontstory did not name the journalist for legal reasons. But her identity was revealed on social media by another journalist. She has not commented publicly on the case.

Main image credit: IPI.media

Daniel Tilles

Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.