Last Thursday, Russia and the West agreed to release 24 prisoners in the largest exchange since the Cold War.
Among them was a 42-year-old Spanish journalist who has worked for outlets including La Sexta, Público and Gara, a Basque nationalist newspaper.
Instead of returning to Spain, however, Pablo Gonzalez was warmly welcomed in Moscow by President Vladimir Putin, along with seven others, including an FSB hitman who murdered a Chechen rebel in Germany five years ago, upon landing back in the ‘motherland’.
For many, Gonzalez’s arrival confirmed a long-held suspicion: he is not a journalist, but a spy working on behalf of the Kremlin.
Even Sir Richard Moore, head of MI6, called Gonzalez a pawn of Putin who was “posing as a Spanish journalist” as part of Moscow’s “destabilising efforts”.
READ MORE: Spanish journalist accused of spying for Russia lands in Moscow after being released as part of prisoner swap deal with the West
And the video of Putin greeting Pavel/Pablo… I have never seen Putin greet a journalist at the foot of the plane… he greets returned spies, yes… he already did it in 2010. pic.twitter.com/EJlWJgpLff
— Juanjo Prego (@EsteparioTotal) August 1, 2024
Gonzalez, whose real name is Pavel Rubstov, was arrested on February 28, 2022 by Polish authorities while reporting on the refugee crisis on the border with Ukraine, triggered by Putin’s illegal invasion.
He was held in a prison dubbed “Poland’s Guantanamo” on spying charges before his release last week.
González’s grandfather moved from Spain to the former Soviet Union as a child during the Spanish Civil War; he himself was born in Moscow in 1982 before returning to Spain with his mother at age 9.
He became a Spanish citizen, receiving the Spanish name Pablo González Yague, which allowed him to have two passports, one Russian and one Spanish.
Growing up, González devoted himself to journalism, working for a variety of publications throughout Spain.
The freelance journalist had been based in Poland since 2019, where he submitted articles for agencies such as the Spanish news agency EFE and became the face of the crisis by providing television reports from the region.
However, he aroused suspicion among his colleagues by always appearing to be equipped with the latest laptop or phone, and not being afraid to spend money in local bars.
Polish authorities have remained tight-lipped about the evidence that led to his arrest, although his warm reception in Moscow appears to confirm suspicions that he was working as an agent on behalf of the Putin regime.
Polish security services accused him of ‘engaging in foreign intelligence activities against Poland’ and being an agent of the GRU, the infamous Russian military intelligence branch known for attacks such as the Novichok poisonings in Salisbury, England.
Agentstvo, an independent Russian media outlet, reported that in 2016 Gonzalez befriended and spied on Zhanna Nemtsova, the daughter of murdered Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov.
Others have speculated that Gonzalez was sent to work for Basque nationalist newspapers in an attempt by Moscow to revive the region’s separatist movement and destabilise the stability of the Spanish government.
Gonzalez still retains Spanish citizenship; his wife, who has advocated for his freedom while behind bars, has openly expressed hope that he will be able to return to Spain.
