Poland sentences Russian hockey player to almost three years in prison for allegedly agreeing to photograph NATO sites and post online about Ukraine

Meduza.io

A Polish court has convicted 21-year-old Russian hockey player Maxim Sergeyev of espionage and sentenced him to two years and 11 months in prison. Investigators said Sergeyev maintained secret contact with a Russian Federal Security Service agent as early as October 2021 and agreed to post “political content” on social media. For example, the hockey player allegedly received a small cryptocurrency payment for writing online that the war in Ukraine “does not concern Poles.”

Additionally, officials say Sergeyev was instructed to locate and photograph strategic sites related to the Polish military or NATO forces.

Prosecutors said Sergeyev later joined a Russian cell of at least 16 people who were promised €10,000 ($10,475) to sabotage a train carrying weapons and humanitarian aid to Ukraine.

Poland will reportedly deport Sergeyev to Russia in late May 2025. Until then, he will serve his sentence in a prison in Lublin. He was arrested in June 2023. He played for the Zaglebie Sosnowiec professional ice hockey team.

Polish authorities say they’ve identified at least 16 people from Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine operating in a Russian spy network. According to Poland’s Prosecutor General’s Office, Sergeyev was the 14th person arrested in connection with this network. In August 2023, Polish intelligence services reported the arrest of a 16th member of the group.