Poland Convicts 14 Members of Russian Spy Network
Poland has sentenced 14 citizens of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine for spying for Russia. They tracked aid trains for Ukraine and planned to blow them up, Euronews and Rzeczpospolita report.
Sixteen defendants were charged with espionage in November, including preparations to blow up humanitarian aid trains for Ukraine, as well as surveillance of military and critical infrastructure facilities.
Fourteen of them pleaded guilty but did not appear in court, so they were sentenced in absentia. The other two alleged members of the spy network will be tried separately after they withdrew their previous guilty pleas.
"Having considered the case... the court found all the defendants guilty of the crimes charged, and also found that some of them acted as part of an organised criminal group," said Judge Yaroslav Kovalsky, announcing the verdict.
The spy network was uncovered by officers of the Internal Security Agency and the Organised Crime Department of the National Prosecutor's Office in Lublin. First, 9 suspects were caught in March this year, then the rest.
The spokesperson for the Lublin court, Barbara Markowska, said that the members of the spy group were "Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians", without giving any details.
It is known that the convicts include a Russian hockey player for a Polish club from Sosnowiec, Maxim S., who was arrested in June, and, according to Polish media, "two Ukrainian lawyers and a political scientist, a French teacher, a pharmacist, and a software engineer".
According to the investigation, the group members received tasks from Russian handlers via Telegram and were paid for them in cryptocurrency, ranging from $300 to about $10,000.
The spies installed at least 6 cameras with an independent power supply and very high resolution wireless communication. Thanks to this, they constantly monitored air, rail and military transport. Orders were given to them via the Telegram messenger by their supervisor, Andrei. They concerned the surveillance of critical infrastructure - the international airport.