Two Russians jailed in Poland for espionage, Wagner group membership

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Two Russians jailed in Poland for espionage, Wagner group membership

Two Russian citizens were on Friday sentenced to five and half years imprisonment in Poland for membership of the Russian Wagner Group militia and conducting espionage for Moscow.

It was gathered that Poland and other NATO countries have all been experiencing increased sabotage, subversion and other hybrid warfare activity by Moscow since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine three years ago.

A spokesperson for the District Court in Krakow said the defendants’ actions were intended to cause social anxiety, in particular to make Polish society believe that members of the Wagner Group are already here in the territory of the Republic of Poland, that the Polish services are not working.

The defendants, Alexey T. and Andrei G. were arrested in Warsaw in August 2023 and accused of carrying out activities for the benefit of foreign intelligence, as well as participation in an international armed association aiming to commit terrorist offences, among other charges.

According to prosecutors, the men put up posters in Krakow and Warsaw with QR codes leading to a Wagner recruitment website.

They had previously put up posters in France and Germany mocking the defence policies of Western countries.