This latter view prevails in the arguments and statements cited by Rzeczpospolita, including an anonymous informant from the Internal Security Agency. However, as Gazeta Wyborcza noted, this provision can only be applied during an ongoing investigation, not once it has been completed. Significantly, Rzeczpospolita tries to refute this argument by citing Marcin Warchoł, deputy minister of justice in the PiS government, alongside Zbigniew Ziobro (the authors of the text have already omitted these facts), who defend the view that investigators could have denied Rubcow access to the files on the basis of Article 156 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. This is true, but only in part.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office may refuse to provide the case files, but only in preparatory proceedings. That is, in the investigation. But if it is closed and information is provided about the “final date of familiarization with the materials of the preparatory proceedings”, “the injured party, his attorney or legal representative cannot be denied access to the case files, the possibility of making copies or copies and the issuance of copies or copies” (refers to the same article 156, paragraph 5 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, only in the fourth sentence). Therefore, it is important to know whether such notification took place, but all available information indicates that it did.
What was in the files handed over to the Russian spy
However, specific regulations are not the most important thing here. What is more important is the content of the files handed over to Rubtsov. In particular, what he read could be useful to the Russian services. Rzeczpospolita does not report this. We only know that among the files made available to the spy there were also classified files. Citing its source in the Internal Security Agency, a high-ranking officer, Rzeczpospolita writes that “there is a risk that he learned too much and passed it on to his superiors.” But what exactly or even approximately? It is not known.
This information was denied by the National Prosecutor’s Office. Its spokesman, Przemysław Nowak, assured that in the files made available “there are no secrets in terms of state security, and no operational techniques have been disclosed that would allow the identification of agents carrying out any activities that should not be disclosed”. One could say – word for word, were it not for the facts mentioned above, which, however, make us look more favorably on the arguments of the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
In any case, the case looks sensational. One might get the impression that the Polish state has once again failed to resolve an obvious issue or even failed. What’s more, it has benefited Russia. And this was the point made by President Andrzej Duda and his advisor Stanisław Żaryn, who considered the case a scandal and held the government responsible. Duda went so far as to say that it seems that “under Donald Tusk’s rule” the cooperation between Polish and Russian services, which has been going on since his previous government, continues. Of course, no one takes these words seriously, knowing that the president’s goal was to attack his political opponents. In turn, the above-mentioned cooperation with Russian services was concluded before 2014 and the war in Ukraine, to protect Polish soldiers in Afghanistan. It was not broken even during the PiS government.
We have become accustomed to the fact that the current head of state does not even try to pretend to be apolitical and engages in political battles. What is worse is that such statements add fuel to this fire, deepening divisions and undermining trust in the state, which significantly weakens Poland. What should be worrying is that the Rubtsov case has been used for this purpose for weeks, almost from the moment he was sent to Moscow as part of an exchange.
Shortly afterwards, Polish media, also based on anonymous information from the services, reported that the man had deep roots in the Warsaw community. He was supposedly friends with journalists, photojournalists and left-wing activists. Which ones? It is not known, the information does not include names, affiliations or even specific examples of connections.
PiS is looking for spies
These publications – as well as those about the release of files – provoked a swift reaction from politicians, media outlets and people close to PiS, who began to reveal the names of people with whom Gonzalez and his Polish partner had some connection. “Who else did Pablo Gonzalez, aka Paweł Rubcow, recruit?” asked Niezalezna.pl, even suggesting that the woman, accused of aiding and abetting espionage, was involved in taking public media out of the hands of PiS personnel. So, implicitly, it was an operation by Tusk’s people carried out in cooperation with the Russian services.
The case is heating up the PiS right-wing community so much that one of the publicists associated with it claimed a few days ago that Rubcow’s partner was involved in espionage activities (which the prosecutor’s office denies). This triggered another wave of entries that could be interpreted as an announcement of new charges. One of them – written by a former PiS TVP and radio employee – stated clearly: “ALL journalists from GW, TVN and the rest of the ‘free media’ who had contacts with her should reveal themselves IMMEDIATELY. For the public good and for the sake of the people, of course they won’t, but I have bad news for them – sooner or later these names will be revealed as this couple infiltrated the PO media and various ‘activists’ and NGOs.
It is clear that the Rubtsov case was used by people from the previous government to attack not only the current government, the prosecutor’s office and the services, but also the media. And it is very strong, because it is reinforced by the suggestion that everyone acted in the interests of the Kremlin, and the journalists who had contacts with Rubtsov and his partner may be agents recruited by them.
PiS attacks to hide its own incompetence
It has been a long time since the PiS community has used such dirty tricks to hide its own incompetence and involvement. This has been the case since at least 2010, when responsibility for the Smolensk catastrophe was attributed to the then government, and additional accusations of cooperation with Putin in the assassination of the President of the Republic of Poland were made. Recently, we have seen this mechanism thanks to the activities of the “lex Tusk” commission, which was supposed to prove the involvement of the Prime Minister and his people in relations with Russia and to disclose confidential documents of the Polish services. Finally, there is the case of Tomasz L., a former right-wing member of the WSI liquidation commission, who was arrested at the same time as Gonzlaez/Rubcow and suspected of spying for Russia. PiS members tried to “glue” him to the authorities of the PO Warsaw City Council, where he worked under Lech Kaczyński.
In Rubtsov’s case, are we dealing with a similar “collage”? You can assume so. Although he had been active in Poland since 2019, he was only targeted by the services when the allies provided him with adequate information. Then, for almost two years, the PiS services were unable to collect sufficiently strong evidence of his subversive activities to bring him to trial and convict him.
What happened is that – as I heard – at the express request of the allies, Rubtsov was transferred for exchange, but without releasing any Polish prisoners from the Russian forced labor camp in exchange, which is the norm in such situations. This is due to the poor results of the activities of our services. The fact that no one was found in exchange puts the new authorities in a negative light. All the more so because Gonzalez was released in a way that had never been used before, perhaps even extralegally. But PiS and its propagandists are strangely silent about this. This is a very dangerous topic for them.
What is most disturbing, however, is that the one who benefits most from the Gonzalez/Rubtsov affair is the Kremlin and its strategy of sowing ferment in Western societies, generating new conflicts and weakening the will to resist Russian aggression. It is hard to believe that none of those currently investigating the Gonzalez/Rubtsov affair are aware of this.
The grim conclusion comes to mind that the Russian spy became more dangerous, and the effects of his actions brought more benefits to his masters, not when he was free and operating undercover, but when he returned to his homeland unmasked.
