Russian 21-Year-Old Hockey Player Sentenced to 3 Years in Poland for Espionage

A Polish court has convicted 21-year-old Russian hockey player Maxim S., who was detained last year as part of an operation to expose a large-scale Russian spy network, of espionage. He was sentenced to 3 years in prison. This was reported by Onet.

The court found the Russian guilty of espionage and sentenced him to two years and 11 months in prison. He was also fined €1,220.

Poland will deport the Russian to his homeland on 26 May 2025, until then he will serve his sentence in a prison in Lublin.

The Russian, who has been playing for the Polish team Zagłębie Sosnowiec since 2021, reportedly had contact with an employee of the Russian Federal Security Service.

On his instructions, the hockey player published political posts on social media, such as that the war in Ukraine ‘does not concern Poles’, and was supposed to take pictures of strategic objects related to the Polish army or NATO forces. For this, the Russian was paid in cryptocurrency.

The Russian was part of a Russian spy cell in Poland, which also included 13 Ukrainians and two Belarusians. They were all exposed and detained in 2023.

The 15 people who were part of the network received sentences ranging from 13 months to 6 years in prison.

Another defendant was 17 years old at the time of the crime, so he was subjected to measures under the Polish law on the support and rehabilitation of minors.

As previously reported by The Gaze, in December 2023, the prosecutor's office in Lublin charged this Russian hockey player with involvement in espionage activities for the Russian Federation. He is one of 14 citizens of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine convicted in Poland for participating in a spy network that acted in favour of Russia.