Poland refuses international arrest warrant for GRU spy
A Warsaw court wanted to issue a red notice to Interpol against Paweł Rubcow, accused of spying for Russia. Police withdrew the request, citing a ban on pursuing political matters.
Court withdrew application for international arrest warrant
The Warsaw Regional Court planned to issue a so-called red notice to Interpol in March this year against Paweł Rubcow, accused of spying for Russian GRU. According to rp.pl's findings, the application for the highest-ranking search was submitted to the International Cooperation Office of the Police Headquarters. Four days later, the court received a refusal. The decision by the Police Headquarters cited Article 3 of Interpol's constitution, which prohibits the organisation from undertaking actions of a political, military, religious or racial character — and espionage is classified as a political offence.
Judge Anna Ptaszek, the spokesperson for criminal matters at the Warsaw Regional Court, confirmed to the media that on 3 June 2026 the order to resume the application to Interpol was revoked. Rubcow has been beyond the reach of Polish justice since August 2024 — when he left detention in Poland as a result of a prisoner exchange between the United States and Russia, delivered to the airport by Vladimir Putin himself.
Trial suspended since February
The person accused of cooperating with GRU for over two years — also known as Pablo Gonzalez Yagüe, a Spanish journalist — has never appeared before the Warsaw court. The trial has been conducted without him since February 2026, as Polish law requires that the indictment be read to the defendant in person. The court issued an arrest warrant in March and a European Arrest Warrant in May, but without a red notice to Interpol, the possibilities for search remain significantly limited.
A red notice is the highest level of international search — information about the wanted person reaches police systems in almost 200 countries. In practice, people subject to such searches are most often caught at airports, railway stations or during traffic checks. The notice activates extradition procedures and significantly increases the chances of apprehension.
Security service officers express shock
Former and current senior officials of special services critically assessed the Police Headquarters' position. Stanisław Żaryn, former deputy coordinator of special services during the PiS era — when Rubcow was detained — noted: "I am in shock, it seems obvious to me that a red notice should have been issued for Rubcow. It would not mean that searches would be immediately effective, but it is the minimum that should have been introduced."
One former police officer pointed out that the Police Headquarters' International Police Cooperation Office has no right to independently assess whether a red notice is warranted. "That is not their competence," the rp.pl source said. "Rubcow has criminal charges against him, is accused of espionage, acted to the detriment of Poland. And handing him over to Russia as part of a spy exchange confirms he was a spy. I do not understand why the Police Headquarters did not fight for a red notice for him."
Interpol and political matters
Unofficial sources at Interpol confirmed that cases of an espionage character between states are traditionally excluded from the Interpol system under Article 3 of the statute. However, there are exceptions — for example in cases of industrial espionage. An Interpol officer explained to the media that this concerns exceptional situations when espionage is not of an inter-state character.
General Adam Rapacki, founder of the Central Bureau of Investigation and former deputy head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Administration, acknowledged that Interpol treats espionage as a political offence. However, he emphasised: "I would nonetheless try to submit an application for a red notice for Rubcow. I would think about providing it with good justification, with the advantage being that Poland is a democratic country."
Rapacki drew attention to the complexity of the regulations — Interpol comprises 196 countries, including dictatorships, and the statute does not distinguish between democratic and authoritarian members. History shows that requests from countries such as Russia or Belarus sometimes served to pursue opposition figures under the guise of combating crime.
Significance of the international arrest warrant
The absence of a red notice means automatically no international arrest warrant for Rubcow and in practice eliminates the possibility of his apprehension outside Russia's borders. The Police Headquarters has so far not explained why it did not attempt to persuade Interpol to issue the notice or why it did not justify the application based on exceptions regarding industrial espionage.
Source: Google News PL — Crime (pl)