The mystery of the Russian spy posing as a Spanish journalist

The return is full of questions

When Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine in February 2022, reporters from around the world flocked to the Polish-Ukrainian border to cover the exodus of Ukrainian refugees.

Among them is Pablo González, a freelance journalist from Spain who has lived in Poland since 2019, working for the Spanish news agency EFE, Voice of America and other news agencies. Reporters in Warsaw know him as an extroverted colleague who enjoys drinking beer and singing karaoke until the wee hours of the morning.

Pablo González, a freelance journalist from Spain, covers the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Photo: Globalter

Two and a half years later, Pablo González was returned to Russia in a prisoner exchange, leaving behind many mysteries about who he really was and concerns about how Poland handled a case in which he was accused of being a Russian spy.

During the early days of the war, Pablo González reported live to television viewers in Spain against a backdrop of refugees arriving at the train station in the Polish border town of Przemysl.

But less than a week after the fighting broke out, Polish security agents entered the room where Pablo González was staying and arrested him. They accused him of “participating in foreign intelligence activities against Poland” and said he was an agent of the GRU, Russia's military intelligence.

Friends were surprised – and as Poland held Pablo González without trial for months that turned into years, some became skeptical and staged protests in Spain demanding his release. Polish authorities have never detailed the charges.

Pablo González and the exchanged prisoners get off the plane in Moscow. Photo: Telecinco

But on an early August evening, the burly 42-year-old with a shaved head was welcomed back to his homeland by President Vladimir Putin after being freed in the biggest prisoner swap since Soviet times.

Pablo González's inclusion in the deal arguably confirmed Western suspicions that he was a Russian spy using the cover of a journalist.

Who is Pablo Gonzalez?

Born Pavel Rubtsov in 1982 in Moscow, then part of the Soviet Union, González moved to Spain with his Spanish mother at the age of nine, where he became a citizen and adopted the Spanish name Pablo González Yagüe.

He graduated from the Slavic Philology department and a master's degree in Strategic and International Security Studies, then went into journalism, becoming a reporter for the newspapers Público, La Sexta and Gara, a Basque nationalist newspaper.

Pablo González, (back row, bald) and prisoners are welcomed by President Putin. Photo: 20Minutos

It is unclear why Poland arrested him. The investigation remains classified, and a spokesman for the secret service told the AP that Pablo González could not say anything beyond what was in a brief statement.

Poland is on high alert after a series of arrests of suspected spies and saboteurs, part of what Warsaw sees as a hybrid war by Russia and Belarus against the West.

Polish security services said Warsaw included Gonzalez in the deal because of Poland’s close alliance with the United States and “common security interests.” In a statement, they said that “Pavel Rubtsov, a GRU officer arrested in Poland in 2022, (had) carried out intelligence missions in Europe.”

The head of Britain's MI6 foreign intelligence agency, Richard Moore, told the 2022 Aspen Security Forum that Gonzalez was an "illegal immigrant" who was arrested in Poland after "posing as a Spanish journalist." The term "illegal" refers to spies operating under unofficial cover, meaning they do not enjoy diplomatic immunity.

Another hint about the spy's activities comes from the independent Russian media outlet Agentstvo, which reported that in 2016, Rubtsov (aka Pablo González) befriended and followed Zhanna Nemtsova, the daughter of Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, who was murdered in Moscow in 2015.

Poland-based journalists who knew Pablo González said he used Poland as a base to travel to former Soviet countries including Ukraine and Georgia. He had a drone license and used it to film Auschwitz-Birkenau from the air to cover the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the “death camp” in 2020.

Pablo González used to work for many major news agencies such as EFE and VOA. Photo: The Economic Times

VOA confirmed that Pablo González briefly worked for them, but they have since removed his articles from their website.

“Pablo González contributed to a number of VOA stories as a freelancer for a relatively short period of time starting in late 2020,” spokesperson Emily Webb said in an email response to an AP query. “As soon as VOA learned of the allegations, we removed his material.”

A secret that can never be "revealed"

Following Pablo González's arrest by Polish authorities, some activists have raised concerns about whether the journalist's rights will be respected. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is among the groups calling for him to be put on trial or released.

The group maintains that he should not have been held for so long without trial. "Pablo González is innocent until proven guilty," Alfonso Bauluz, head of RSF's Spain office, told the AP.

Jaap Arriens, a Dutch journalist and vlogger based in Warsaw, recounted that he had been hanging out with a colleague named Pablo González in Warsaw and Kive, as well as in Przemysl shortly before his arrest.

Arriens described Pablo González as a friendly, funny man with a boyish demeanor and a tattooed chest that he once showed off in a bar.

Pablo González lives a sociable life, but seems to be better off than the average freelance journalist. He always has the latest and most expensive phone, works on the Polish-Ukrainian border with the latest 14-inch MacBook Pro, and has plenty of money to spend in bars.

Arriens recalls Pablo González repeatedly saying enthusiastically: “Life is good, life is even too good.”

“And I thought, ‘Man, the life of a freelancer is never too good. What is he talking about?’ I don’t know any freelancers who talk like that,” Arriens recalled.

A protest calling for the release of Pablo González during his detention in Poland. Photo: El Pais

After Pablo González was returned to Moscow, those following the case are now waiting for his next moves. But perhaps, there will be no more moves and the story of this journalist will forever remain a mystery.

It should be noted that, over the years, supporters of Pablo González have set up a Twitter account, currently X, to campaign for Gonzalez's release.

And when Russian authorities announced that Pavel Rubtsov had arrived in Moscow on Thursday, the @FreePabloGonzález account tweeted: “This is our last tweet: Pablo is finally free. Thank you all so much.”

That message could be the end of a secret that will never be “revealed”. And the happiest person right now must be Pablo González’s wife, who currently lives in Spain.

She has repeatedly spoken out in the media about her husband's innocence and called for Pablo's release while he was detained in Poland. Now, they are likely to reunite, either in Spain, since Pablo González has Spanish citizenship, or in Russia.

Nguyen Khanh

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/nhung-bi-an-ve-diep-vien-nga-trong-vai-nha-bao-tay-ban-nha-post306422.html