Poland has arrested a Russian professional ice hockey player. He is suspected of being a spy.
On Friday June 30, Polish Minister of Justice Zbigniew Ziobro and the National Prosecutor’s Office announced the arrest of a Russian ice hockey player who participate in Poland’s first national division, the PHL. He is suspected of being a spy working for Russia.
The arrest is the 14th in the Polish investigation against a spy ring working for Russian special services. According to the Polish prosecutor’s office, this network carried out intelligence and propaganda activities against Poland, and was preparing for sabotage in exchange for remuneration.
The arrest, carried out in the Silesian Voivodeship in the south of the country, was made possible by the Polish National Prosecutor’s Office and the Internal Security Agency (ABW).
According to the Polish media Rzeczpospolita and I.pl, the professional ice hockey player and alleged spy would be Maksim S. He plays for Zagłębie Sosnowiec, a team that has won the championship several times in the past but finished in eighth place out of the nine teams competing in the league this year.
Aged 20 and resident in Poland since 2021, the player was mainly part of the junior team but made a few appearances in the first division for the team of Sosnowiec, a 200,000-people city in southern Poland.
According to the prosecutor’s office, he was paid to carry out reconnaissance operations on critical infrastructures in several regions.
The alleged spy was taken into custody and will be remanded in custody for three months following court approval. The Lublin County Prosecutor feared he would flee the country.
The player now faces up to 10 years’ imprisonment for participation in an organized criminal group, as well as for activities on behalf of foreign intelligence against Polish interests.
The Kremlin responded through its spokesman Dmitry Peskov, referring to “a continuation of the Russophobic policy by the Polish authorities”. He would like to have more details, in particular via the Russian embassy in Poland, but adds that their work will be complicated by the “insane, Russophobic attitude” of the Polish authorities.
Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, said they strongly protested against the arrest and demanded that detailed explanations be sent to Russia immediately.
A first wave of arrests of the alleged spy ring was made in March. According to Poland, they were carrying out surveillance operations and preparing acts of sabotage on Polish infrastructures, notably those linking Poland to Ukraine.
