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GRU agent Pavel Rubtsov, who posed as “Basque journalist” Pablo González and was later swapped for political prisoners after his arrest alongside other Russian spies, has published an article in Naiz.eus. In it, he laments the conditions in the Polish prison where he was held — citing poor ventilation and moldy walls — accuses USAID of trying to “strip nations of their identity,” and claims he was jailed solely for criticizing the “Kyiv regime.” Notably, when Rubtsov was cultivating ties with Russian journalists and activists — feeding Moscow detailed reports on them — he kept his hostility toward the “Kyiv regime” under wraps.
In the article, Rubtsov claims that no evidence of his work for intelligence services has been presented, apart from the fact that he was met at the airport by Vladimir Putin. However, this is untrue. First, as previously reported by The Insider, in addition to Putin, GRU handler for illegals Oleg Sotnikov also met and embraced him at the airport upon his return to Russia as part of the prisoner change in August last year.
Second, according to airline booking records, Rubtsov flew from Moscow to St. Petersburg on a shared reservation with Sergey Turbin, an officer from the GRU’s illegals department, in 2017. Turbin learned the basics of covert operations at the Novosibirsk Higher Military Command School, as indicated by a photo posted on the Russian social network Odnoklassniki, where he is seen holding the school's banner.
Furthermore, as The Insider discovered, Rubtsov’s mother, Tatyana Dobrenko, was registered at the address of the GRU's headquarters in Moscow — 76 Khoroshevskoye Highway.
Finally, The Insider also found that Rubtsov used two passports when crossing borders — both from a GRU-issued series (6543413** and 6465187**). At least 15 known GRU operatives have used these series, including Skripal poisoners “Alexander Boshirov” and “Ruslan Petrov” (aliases used by Alexander Mishkin and Anatoly Chepiga), participants in the Montenegro coup attempt, those involved in the poisoning of Emilian Gebrev in Bulgaria, organizers of cyberattacks, and many others.