Russian hockey player convicted of espionage in Poland

Russian hockey player Maksim Sergeyev, who played for the Polish hockey club Zagłębie Sosnowiec since 2021, has been sentenced to two years and eleven months in prison on espionage charges.

Source: Polish website Hokej.net

Details: Sergeyev, 21, was detained in June 2023 and has been in custody awaiting trial since then. Sergeyev pleaded guilty, avoiding a potential sentence of up to 10 years.

The defender played only five matches for Zagłębie, mostly playing with the club’s youth team.

Sergeyev lived a double life, having been recruited by the FSB through Telegram. Initially, he was tasked with simple missions like posting political content on social media in exchange for cryptocurrency.

Later, his assignments became more complex, including photographing strategic sites such as the railway station in Przemyśl and an arms factory in Silesia. He even rented an apartment overlooking a military equipment plant. When apprehended by Poland's Internal Security Agency, documents related to the Wagner Group private military company were found on his laptop.

Russian media outlet Novaya Gazeta writes that Sergeyev will remain in prison until May 2025, after which he will be deported to Russia.

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