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Russian Embassy in Poland seeks access to detained Russian national

The Russian diplomatic mission has so far received no response

MOSCOW, July 6. /TASS/. The Russian Embassy in Warsaw has requested a meeting with Russian national Maxim Sergeyev, detained in Poland on espionage charges, Charge d'Affaires Andrey Ordash told TASS on Thursday.

"In addition to sending a note to the Polish Foreign Ministry, the Embassy also sent a request to the Polish prosecutor’s office, demanding that they confirm the Russian national’s arrest and clarify the charges brought against him and allow our consular workers to meet with him," he said.

According to him, the embassy has so far received no response. "Prosecutors are reluctant to comment on the situation on the phone, saying that they allegedly have no instructions on the matter," Ordash added.

He noted that this was "a blatant violation of Article 43 of the 1992 Russian-Polish Consular Convention." "Poland was obliged to inform us of the Russian national’s detention within three days," the diplomat said.

On June 30, Polish Prosecutor General and Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro announced on Twitter that a Russian ice hockey player had been detained on charges of spying for Russia. According to him, the detainee used his athletic activities in a top-shelf ice hockey team as a cover. Ziobro added that this was the 14th member of "a spy network" detained in the country. According to the press service of the Polish minister coordinator of special services, the Russian carried out missions in Poland for a foreign intelligence agency, studying critical infrastructure in several regions. According to investigators, the man has been staying in Poland since October 2021. The prosecutor charged him with participation in the activities of an organized crime group and working for foreign intelligence. The Russian, who is facing up to ten years in prison, had been taken into custody for three months.