Polish authorities detain athlete suspected of being Russian spy

Poland said on Friday it had detained a professional athlete suspected of spying for the Russian government, in the 14th arrest stemming from the dismantling of what authorities say was a Russian spy ring aimed at sabotaging arms shipments to Ukraine.

That is what Polish prosecutors have said in a statement that the suspect, a Russian citizen, was connected to a network that “carried out intelligence and propaganda activities against Poland and prepared acts of sabotage” for Russia. However, they did not name the suspect Polish news sources reported that he was a professional hockey player.

“Russian spies are attacking one by one!” Poland’s Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro said in a Twitter message on Friday. “A spy who was operating under the guise of a sportsman has been captured.”

Officials said the suspect was charged with espionage, which carries a prison sentence of up to 10 years.

In March, Polish prosecutors arrested nine foreigners charged with spying for Russia and conspiracy to sabotage Polish infrastructure used to transport Western weapons to neighboring Ukraine.

Poland, a NATO member and one of Europe’s staunchest supporters of Ukraine, has been a vital transit point for arms and ammunition supplied by Western countries to help Ukraine defend itself against the Russian invasion. The presence in Poland of a Russian spy ring seeking to damage infrastructure would signal a risky escalation by Moscow, which has so far avoided attacking targets within alliance territory.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitri S. Peskov suggested on Friday that the Moscow embassy in Poland would “clear things up.”

“Of course the world of the embassy is very difficult now,” he added, “because of the frenzied, Russophobic position.”

Prosecutors said the suspect, who arrived in Poland in 2021, was paid to “carry out activities that included identifying critical infrastructure” in several provinces.

Polish news media reported that he played with the national hockey team, Zaglebie Sosnowiec.

The team’s coach, Grzegorz Klich, confirmed that the suspect was arrested earlier this month, but that he signed to play with the team before the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

“We had no suspicions against him before that,” he was quoted as saying say in an interview published Friday in Fakt, a Polish tabloid. “He behaved normally. That’s why we are surprised by this case.”

Polish intelligence officers said they had detained the suspect in the province of Silesia, southern Poland, where he had conducted most of his activities.

Anatol Magdziarz reporting contributed.