Polish court suspends case against Russian-Spanish journalist accused of spying for Moscow

Feb 26, 2026 | Defence, Law

Keep our news free from ads and paywalls by making a donation to support our work!

Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

A judge has suspended an espionage case against Russian-Spanish journalist Pavel Rubtsov, who goes by the name Pablo González, as the suspect cannot be located.

Rubtsov was in 2024 released from Polish custody as part of a prisoner swap between Russia and Western countries and is currently believed to be in Moscow.

He was originally detained in Poland near the Ukrainian border in February 2022, shortly after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, on suspicion of spying for Russia, the country where he was born in 1982.

As a child, Rubtsov moved to Spain, where he changed his name to González and later began to work as a journalist for outlets including TV station La Sexta and newspaper Público.

In August 2024, just two weeks after he had been sent back to Russia as part of the prisoner swap, Polish prosecutors issued an indictment against Rubtsov, saying that he had conducted espionage on behalf of Russia in Poland between 2016 and 2022.

That meant that, in theory, Rubtsov would face trial in Poland. However, that always seemed an unlikely prospect in practice, given that he was back in Russia.

 

On Wednesday, a spokeswoman for Warsaw’s district court, judge Anna Ptaszek, announced that, at the request of prosecutors, they had suspended proceedings against Rubtsov until he is located. She noted that there was no evidence he had been served with a summons.

“He is accused of committing a crime that has the status of a felony,” noted Ptaszek, quoted by Polsat News.

“According to the regulations, individuals facing this charge must be present at least at the first hearing date, when the indictment is read and when the court asks whether the accused admits to the offence and whether they wish to provide a statement.”

Ptaszek also revealed that prosecutors have requested that a court issue permission for the suspect to be brought into pretrial detention. That is a formal step required in order to issue domestic and European arrest warrants for Rubtsov, as well as an Interpol Red Notice.

Last year, Rubtsov wrote, under the name González, an article for Basque news website Naiz.info claiming that he had been the victim of “persecution” in Poland, which had targeted him in order to silence a “critical voice”.

He said that Russia had “rescued” him from the mistreatment he was facing in Polish detention, and he shared images of his life now in Moscow.

Rubtsov also continues to be active on social media platform X. Last November, after he failed to appear at a scheduled court hearing in Warsaw, he wrote a post saying that he “had no idea” it was taking place as “they didn’t communicate it to me”.

“If it weren’t for the political pressure, the case would already be suspended, closed, or whatever,” he added.

According to Polish media reports, Rubtsov’s former partner, a Polish journalist who is named only as Magdalena Ch. under Polish privacy law, has also been charged with aiding and abetting his espionage. However, she had so far not been brought to trial and continues to work as a journalist.

In 2022, Poland expelled 45 Russian diplomats who it said were actually spies. Since then, it has closed all three Russian consulates operating in Poland in retaliation for Moscow’s campaign of sabotage and other so-called “hybrid actions”.


Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Main image credit: Pablo González/X

Pin It on Pinterest

Support us!