Two Russian men arrested in Poland on espionage charges went on trial Wednesday for allegedly distributing leaflets and stickers promoting the Wagner mercenary group, a Polish court said.
The pair, identified by Polish counterintelligence as Alexei T. and Andrei G., were detained in August 2023 for distributing leaflets about the Wagner Group in the cities of Warsaw and Krakow. The leaflets contained links to "recruitment websites" for the notorious mercenary outfit.
Wagner was disbanded and reorganized after its founder Yevgeny Prigozhin died in a plane crash last year following an aborted mutiny in Russia.
The two Russian men appeared in a Krakow court on Wednesday, its spokeswoman told AFP. They face up to 10 years in prison on espionage charges.
Local media also reported that the pair had distributed stickers promoting Wagner, featuring the phrase “We are here. Join us,” as well as a QR code directing people to a Russian website about the mercenary group.
“The Russians had more than 3,000 propaganda leaflets on them promoting the Wagner group. The material was given to them in Moscow,” Poland's counterintelligence agency said in August 2023.
The men were set to receive “up to 500,000 rubles” ($5,000) for their activities, Polish authorities said.
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