Two Members of Russian Wagner Group to Be Tried in Poland for Espionage
The trial of two Russians, members of the Wagner Group, who are accused of participating in an international armed group and working for foreign intelligence, will begin in the Krakow Voivodeship Court on 9 September.
This was reported by RMF24.
The indictment was filed in June by the prosecutor of the Małopolska Organised Crime Unit.
Two Russian citizens - Alexei T. and Andrei G. - were accused of working for a foreign intelligence service and participating in an international armed association with the aim of committing terrorist crimes.
According to the press service of the Krakow Voivodeship Court, the first court hearing was scheduled for 9 September.
According to the indictment, the defendants were recruiting mercenaries in Poland for military service in the so-called Wagner Group, which is prohibited by international law.
‘To this end, they posted at least several hundred so-called recruitment stickers in Krakow and Warsaw, which allowed them to establish direct contact with further persons responsible for recruitment and organisation,’ the National Prosecutor's Office said.
The defendants were also charged with acting in the interests of Russia's intelligence service (the Foreign Intelligence Service), waging a hybrid war, including propaganda activities aimed at destabilising the political situation in Poland.
The men were detained by the Internal Security Agency in August 2023 in Warsaw. They face up to 10 years in prison.
Prior to that, stickers calling to join the Wagner Group appeared in Krakow.