Polish authorities have arrested and detained a Russian player from Poland’s top ice hockey league on suspicion of spying for Moscow.
“Russian spies are falling one by one!” tweeted justice minister and prosecutor general Zbigniew Ziobro this morning. “A spy who acted under the guise of an athlete was caught. The Russian was a player of a top-flight club.”
Rosyjscy szpiedzy wpadają jeden po drugim! Kolejny sukces śledczych @PK_GOV_PL i ABW. Schwytano szpiega, który działał pod płaszczykiem sportowca. Rosjanin był zawodnikiem 1-ligowego klubu. To już 14 zatrzymany członek rozpracowanej przez nas siatki szpiegowskiej. Dziękuję…
— Zbigniew Ziobro | SP (@ZiobroPL) June 30, 2023
In his statement, Ziobro did not mention the suspect’s name or sport. But Polish media outlets, including Dziennik.pl and I.pl, revealed that he is an ice hockey player called Maksim S. (under Polish privacy law, the surnames of suspects cannot be published).
Polish ice hockey news service Hokej.net reports that the suspect is a 20-year-old who has played for the last two years for UKS Zagłębie Sosnowiec, a team in Poland’s top ice hockey league.
The man was detained by officers from Poland’s Internal Security Agency (ABW) for alleged espionage activities, including monitoring critical infrastructure, for which he received remuneration, reports I.pl.
He has been charged with participation in an organised crime group and activities against the interests of Poland on behalf of foreign intelligence, crimes that carry a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
Poland has detained nine foreign nationals whom it says were spying on behalf of Russia.
The group monitored arms shipments going through Poland to Ukraine and was also preparing actions to “paralyse” such deliveries, say the Polish authorities https://t.co/9c0odEQfNw
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) March 16, 2023
The suspect, who authorities say has been present in Poland since October 2021, is now being held in court-approved pre-trial detention.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, asked today about the arrest, said only that the Russian embassy in Warsaw was looking into the case, reports the Kommersant newspaper. However, he added that things are “very difficult in Warsaw now due to the completely frenzied Russophobic position of the Polish authorities”.
Prosecutors note that the latest suspect is the 14th person detained as part of an investigation into an alleged spy network operating on behalf of Russia. In March, it was announced that nine foreign nationals had been detained on suspicion of espionage and preparing acts of sabotage.
Last year, shortly after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Poland expelled dozens of Russian diplomats whom it accused of using their positions as cover to spy for Moscow.
Poland has expelled 45 “Russian spies pretending to be diplomats”. Russia's ambassador says Moscow will retaliate by expelling Polish diplomats.
Polish authorities have also arrested a Warsaw city official suspected of spying on behalf of Russia https://t.co/mw8FDPWyoJ
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) March 23, 2022
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.
