Spanish journalist or Russian spy? The mystery around Pablo Gonzlez's double life

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https://apnews.com/article/poland-russia-spy-exchange-pablo-gonzalez-warsaw-dbd435bad5a1a435922550d09026b45d

Spanish journalist or Russian spy? The mystery around Pablo González’s double life

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A man identified as Pablo González, a freelance journalist from Spain who had been based in Poland since 2019, second from left with shaved head, listens to Russian President Vladimir Putin, back to a camera, speaking to released Russian prisoners, part of the biggest prisoner swap between the United States and Russia in post-Soviet history, upon their arrival at the Vnukovo government airport outside Moscow, Russia, on Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024. Gonzalez had another passport and another name: Pavel Rubtsov. (Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

BY VANESSA GERA
Updated 3:08 AM EDT, August 4, 2024

[...]

Among them was Pablo González, a freelance journalist from Spain who had been based in Poland since 2019, working for Spanish news agency EFE, Voice of America and other outlets. Warsaw-based reporters knew him as an outgoing colleague who liked to drink beer and sing karaoke into the wee hours of the morning.

Two and a half years later, he was sent to Moscow as part of a prisoner swap, leaving behind both mysteries about who he really was and concerns about how Poland handled a case in which he was accused of being a Russian agent.

In the first days of the war, González provided stand-up reports to TV viewers in Spain against a backdrop of refugees arriving at the train station in the Polish border town of Przemysl.

But less than week into the war, Polish security agents entered the room he was staying in and arrested him. They accused him of “participating in foreign intelligence activities against Poland” and said he was an agent of the GRU, Russian military intelligence.

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[photo from soxnews.ru]

[dalton99a]

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Those who have followed the case are now awaiting his next moves.

He has Spanish citizenship — and the right to return to the European Union. His wife was quoted in Spanish media saying she hopes he can return to Spain.