Poland imprisoned Russian hockey player for espionage.

Ukrainian media report that Russian hockey player Maxim Sergeyev, who played for the club 'Zaglembie Sosnowiec', has been sentenced to two years and 11 months in prison on charges of espionage. This information was disclosed by the publication L'Equipe.

The 21-year-old hockey player was arrested back in June 2023 and has been in custody until the sentencing. He confessed to the crime. If Sergeyev had not pleaded guilty, he faced up to 10 years in prison.

The hockey player played only five matches for the club 'Zaglembie Sosnowiec'. Most of the Time he played for the youth team.

It is noted that the recruitment of the athlete was carried out by the FSB through the messenger Telegram. Initially, Sergeyev was supposed to publish 'political content' on social media. Part of this was to write a post stating that the war in Ukraine 'does not concern the Polish people'. In return, he was offered a small payment in cryptocurrency.

After that, Sergeyev was tasked with finding and photographing strategic objects related to the Polish army or NATO forces. All the gathered information had maximum credibility. The hockey player became a member of a group that included at least 16 people, and he was promised $10,000 for sabotaging a train carrying weapons and humanitarian aid for Ukraine.

Sergeyev has been expelled from Poland and will be tried in Russia on May 26, 2025. Until then, he will serve his sentence in Lublin prison.

We remind that the Ukrainian Armed Forces eliminated the captain of the Russian hockey team in Donetsk region.

As reported earlier, the coach of the Russian club of the Youth Hockey League 'Siberian Snipers', Vadim Berestov, is accused of sexual harassment towards players.

Moreover, the Ukrainian national hockey team won in the second friendly match against the Polish national team in preparation for the 2025 World Championship with a score of 2:1.