News
A Polish court has found 21-year-old Russian hockey player Maksim Sergeyev guilty of espionage and sentenced him to two years and 11 months in prison, according to a report by the French sports newspaper L’Equipe.
Sergeyev is set to be deported to Russia on May 26, 2025. Until then, he will serve his sentence in a prison in Lublin.
According to the report, Sergeyev was part of the Polish team Zagłębie Sosnowiec since 2021 before being sent to its youth squad. It was then that a man contacted him on the Telegram messaging app, offering an opportunity to earn some extra money. As noted by L’Equipe, the man turned out to be an officer of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB).
Sergeyev was initially tasked with posting political statements on social media — including one claiming that the war in Ukraine “does not concern the Polish people.” He received a small payment in cryptocurrency for the post.
Later, Sergeyev was instructed to locate and photograph strategic sites linked to the Polish military or NATO forces. Eventually, the hockey player became part of a group of at least 14 individuals who were promised $10,000 in exchange for sabotaging a train carrying weapons and humanitarian aid to Ukraine.
Sergeyev is not the only Russian national to have been arrested this month for spying in Europe. In early December, authorities in the Netherlands detained another Russian on similar charges. State investigators accused the man of stealing documents related to microchip development over a number of years and sending them to Russia in violation of EU sanctions. The Insider was able to confirm the individual’s identity as Russian engineer German Aksyonov.
At different times, engineer Aksyonov was employed by the Dutch companies ASML and Mapper. As previously reported by The Insider, LLC Mapper (ООО «Маппер») is one of five Russian companies using ASML’s lithography equipment to produce microchips. Since 2018, LLC Mapper has not been affiliated with its Dutch parent company. It is now owned by Astrohn (Астрон), which produces drones and thermal imaging equipment, among other products.