Polish court convicts 21-year-old Russian hockey player of espionage for Russia

A Polish court has found 21-year-old Russian hockey player Maxim S. guilty of espionage as part of an operation to expose a large-scale Russian spy network. This is reported by the Polish media Onet.

The court found the Russian guilty of espionage and sentenced him to two years and 11 months in prison. He was also fined 1220 euros.

Poland is going to deport Maksim S. to Russia on May 26, 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.

Under his instructions, S. disseminated political posts on social media, stating that the war in Ukraine “does not concern Poles,” and was tasked with photographing strategic objects associated with the Polish army or NATO forces. The Russian received payment in cryptocurrency for this.

S. was arrested in June 2023. He had 7.28 grams of marijuana on him, which was later confiscated along with money he had earned from espionage. Detailed summaries he was supposed to have sent to an FSB officer were found on his computer.

Before moving to Poland, the hockey player lived in Balashycha, Russia, and played for the youth and junior teams of Spartak, Khimik Dzerzhinsk and others. According to leaked databases, S.’s father works at the design bureau (KB) “Tupolev.”

The hockey player was part of a Russian spy cell in Poland. In 2023, they all faced exposure and detention.

In 2023, Polish security services announced the liquidation of a spy network working for Russia. A total of 16 people were detained: 13 Ukrainian citizens, two Belarusians, and one Russian, who was S.

A Polish intelligence spokesman claimed at the time that their tasks included identifying military facilities and critical infrastructure, tracking trains carrying military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine, and “organizing their derailment.”

The 15 people in the network received sentences ranging from 13 months to six years in prison. The Law on Support and Rehabilitation of Minors applied measures to another defendant, who was 17 years old at the time of the crime.