A Russian-Spanish man freed in a recent prisoner swap was charged last week in Poland with spying for Moscow.
Pavel Rubtsov, also known as Pablo González, had lived in Poland since 2019 and was arrested days after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 in the Polish town of Przemysl, near Ukraine’s border.
Sir Richard Moore, head of the United Kingdom’s foreign intelligence agency MI6, said at the 2022 Aspen Security Forum that Rubtsov was arrested after “masquerading as a Spanish journalist” and that Rubtsov was trying to go into Ukraine to help with Russia’s destabilizing efforts there.
On August 1, Rubtsov was freed from Polish detention in a historic prisoner exchange between at least seven countries. A total of 24 prisoners were exchanged, including 16 released by Russia and Belarus and eight released to Russia by the West. Three Americans, including Evan Gerskovich, a reporter for The Wall Street Journal, were released in the swap.
A man identified as Pablo González, born Pavel Rubtsov, is seen second from left with the shaved head as he listens to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has his back to the camera, speaking to released Russian prisoners upon their arrival at the Vnukovo government airport outside Moscow on August 1, 2024. Rubtsov was charged last week in Poland with spying for Moscow.
Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP
The national prosecutor’s office in Warsaw announced on Wednesday that a prosecutor in the city of Lublin, approximately a two-hour drive southeast of Warsaw, indicted Rubtsov on espionage charges on August 9.
While the indictment filed to the District Court in Przemysl only identified the defendant as Pablo G. Y. and Pavel R. because of Polish privacy laws, the details make it clear that the case is related to Rubtsov.
Rubtsov was born in then-Soviet Moscow in 1982 and later went to Spain with his Spanish mother at age 9. He received his Spanish name, Pablo González Yagüe, when he became a citizen of Spain. He has a background in journalism, working for outlets Público, a Portuguese newspaper, La Sexta, a Spanish television channel, and Gara, a Basque newspaper.
The national prosecutor’s office said Rubtsov allegedly provided information to Russian military intelligence from April 2016 to February 2022 in Przemysl, Warsaw and elsewhere, “which could cause damage to the Republic of Poland, including as a NATO member state.”
Rubtsov is also accused of “spreading disinformation and conducting operational reconnaissance.”
If found guilty, Rubtsov could serve three to 15 years in prison.
Investigations into suspected co-conspirators are also underway, according to the national prosecutor’s office in Warsaw. One of those reportedly being investigated is a woman who was identified only as Magdalena Ch.
The Associated Press (AP) reported that Magdalena Ch. is believed by journalists in Poland to be Rubtsov’s ex-girlfriend. The AP added that she refused to comment.
