The Polish prosecutor’s office has prepared an indictment against Pavel Rubtsov, aka Pablo Gonzales, for espionage for the Russian Federation.
Specifically, he was charged with obtaining and transmitting information, spreading disinformation, and conducting operational activities for the benefit of Russian military intelligence (GRU).
Pavel Rubtsov was arrested in February 2022, so it took the Polish prosecutor’s office 2.5 years to prepare the indictment. The defendant, who held both Spanish and Russian citizenship, acted as a Spanish journalist for the leftist press in Poland.
Pavel Rubtsov, in addition to collecting valuable information for Russian intelligence, also built a network of contacts in the journalistic community that influenced Polish public opinion.
His main areas of interest were journalists, correspondents, photojournalists, and left-wing activists. One of the strategies of the Russian secret services is to actively influence public opinion in European countries and the United States.
Confirmation of Rubtsov’s spy status was his participation in a large-scale exchange of spies between Western countries and the Russian Federation. On August 1 this year, a prisoner exchange took place in Ankara (Turkey).
Western countries handed over eight people accused of espionage to Russia, in exchange for which Russia and Belarus handed over a dozen citizens, mainly from the United States and Germany, as well as Russian opposition politicians and journalists, charged and convicted of various crimes, most of them politically motivated.
Among Russian spies was also Pavel Rubtsev.
Vladimir Putin welcomed the Russian spies to the Moscow airport and thanked them for their faithful service. Putin said they would all receive state decorations, and the government would also consider providing them with a professional future.
Unfortunately, it should be noted that apart from the favour of the United States and Germany, the Polish government gained nothing from this exchange. Pavlo Rubtsev, despite the filing of an indictment with the court, will only be able to be tried in absentia and will probably never be held accountable in Poland.
At the same time, the Polish government did not use the prisoner exchange to obtain the release of Poles held in Russia and Belarus, such as Andrzej Poczobut, who has been imprisoned for three years in Belarus. Cooperation with the allies is essential, but the fate of the Polish minority activists in Belarus should be more critical.
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