Officials from Warsaw, the capital of Poland, report that a top-tier ice hockey player in the country has been arrested on suspicion of espionage for Russia, according to BBC.
It is speculated that the individual, a Russian national, is part of a Russian espionage network. He was arrested on June 11 in Silesia, southern Poland.
So far, 14 persons have been apprehended in Poland by the Internal Security Agency (ABW), and all of them are thought to be associated with the same organization. It claims that every one of them is from a country to the east of Poland, and not only Russia, BBC reported.
Since Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, tensions in the decades-long espionage rivalry between Russia and the West have risen dramatically.
Poland is one of Ukraine's most reliable partners since it has taken in millions of Ukrainian refugees and offered them asylum as well as military assistance.
Poland Amid Ukraine-Russia Conflict
According to a statement released by Poland's Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro on Friday, June 30, the detained ice hockey player was a member of a club from the country's Ligue 1 (the country's second-highest tier).
"A spy who acted under the guise of an athlete was caught," the ministry said. He did not provide the identity of the player who was arrested, but other Polish media sites have already named Maksim S. as the culprit.
He is reportedly in pretrial jail until his trial. A 10-year jail sentence is possible if he is found guilty. As of yet, the accused ice hockey player has made no statements to the media.
Russian officials expressed concern to their Polish counterparts over the player's incarceration. Russia's state-run Interfax news agency reported ministry spokesman Maria Zakharova as stating, "We demand that the Russian side be immediately provided with comprehensive explanations."
The Polish government said on Friday that they believe a Russian espionage ring was responsible for a variety of intelligence operations, including the surveillance of railroads and the dissemination of propaganda against Poland and the NATO military alliance, as reported by ABC News. The government further said that the ring had planned sabotage operations at the request of Russian intelligence.
Recent Assault in the Ongoing Dispute
In one of the latest attacks in the ongoing battle, a Russian missile strike damaged a busy restaurant district in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk earlier this week.
Officials in Ukraine have reported that medics rushed to the area to help the wounded, but they have not revealed how many people were killed or injured at the time.
The city council of Kramatorsk also reported that the Russian military had attacked a neighboring settlement.
Meanwhile, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky boasted that his country's counteroffensive was making gains across the board before the missile strike.
