WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Polish prosecutors said Wednesday they have formally charged a Russian-Spanish man with espionage, days after Poland released him from prison so he could be included in the investigation. a prisoner exchange between Russia and the West.
The National Prosecutor’s Office also said investigations were underway into an unknown number of suspected accomplices, including a woman they identified only as Magdalena Ch. The woman, known to journalists in Poland as his ex-girlfriend, declined to comment.
Pavel Rubtsov, better known as Pablo González. was arrested on February 28, 2022, days after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, in Przemysl, a Polish city near the border with Ukraine. He had presented himself as a Spanish freelance journalist and reported for Spanish media.
He was held in Poland until he was included in the prisoner exchange on August 1.
The National Prosecutor’s Office said a prosecutor in the city of Lublin filed the charges with the Przemysl District Court on August 9. They identified the accused man as Pablo GY and Pavel R., withholding their surnames under Polish privacy laws. However, the details make it clear that the case concerns the suspected GRU agent Rubtsov.
The suspect is suspected of having committed a crime related to espionage. This carries a prison sentence of three to fifteen years.
It was not yet clear whether Rubtsov would be tried in absentia.
The statement said the suspect is accused of providing information to Russian military intelligence from April 2016 to February 2022 in Przemysl, Warsaw and elsewhere, “which could cause harm to the Republic of Poland, including as a NATO member state.”
It was also said that the activities included “spreading disinformation and conducting operational reconnaissance.”
