On December 18, 2024, a court in Lublin, Poland, sentenced Russian hockey player Maxim Sergeev to two years and eleven months in prison on charges of espionage. The athlete had moved to Poland in October 2021 to play for the Zagłębie Sosnowiec hockey team.
According to reports, Polish authorities believe that Sergeev was recruited by an FSB agent via Telegram shortly after his arrival. His alleged tasks included posting political content on social media, with payments made in cryptocurrency. He reportedly documented strategic sites, including a railway station in Przemyśl and a weapons manufacturing facility in Silesia.
Sergeev was said to have rented an apartment overlooking the military equipment factory. When apprehended by the Internal Security Agency, authorities found documents linked to the Wagner Group on his laptop. Polish media also reported that Sergeev was part of a group of 16 individuals, 14 of whom have already been detained. His guilty plea allowed him to avoid the maximum espionage sentence of ten years.