August 5th 2024

Yuriy unravels the shocking truth behind a supposed ally—a Spanish journalist who turned out to be a Russian spy. Yuriy describes a real-life encounter with a Russian intelligence agent and the haunting aftermath of betrayal on the front lines of Ukraine.

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TRANSCRIPT: (Apple Podcasts & Podbean app users can enjoy accurate closed captions)  

It's August five. 

I'm truly burnt out, which makes it difficult for me to do even simple tasks. Honestly, I even wanted to take a couple more weeks off from recording any episodes, but a few days ago I received a few dozen dollars on PayPal from you and realized that I still have an obligation to you. Today, I will tell you a real spy thriller to which I, for a long time without realizing it had a connection. 

You have probably heard that last week there was an exchange of convicts between Russia and Western countries. The Russians sent to Europe and the USA journalists and several minor local and anti Putin politicians, and in return, they received a bunch of real criminals, illegal agents who hunted for secret information, hackers who stole money from Western citizens and transferred it to accounts associated with Russian special services and even real hired killers. I must admit, I personally know one of  those whom the Russians pulled out from behind bars. 

We met in 2014, a few weeks after the then limited Russian invasion of Ukraine. At that time, we seized Donetsk and Luhansk, and there was a threat of an advance on the city of Dnipro. In the summer and autumn of 2014, there were a lot of journalists there, including foreigners. Among them was a Basque with a Spanish passport who spoke Russian with a noticeable accent, but very well. He eagerly told everyone that his grandmother and grandfather fled to the Soviet Union during the Spanish civil War, learned the language there, passed the knowledge on to their grandson. His name was Pablo Gonzalez. 

At first, this name seemed too charicatured to me; there is no more stereotypical Spanish name in the world than Pabla Gonzales, but I did not pay attention to it at that time. Gonzales was as pro Ukrainian as possible. He condemned the Russian aggression, supported the revolution, and even criticized the West for insufficient support for Ukraine. He visited Kyiv and our cities quite often, and he even had a Ukrainian girlfriend. Usually, he wrote to me a few days before his arrival and invited me to a bar. I always declined and instead invited him to my radio show. It was actually interesting- a Spanish journalist, a Basque supports Ukraine, talks about what Europe and USA should do to help us and mentions details of political life in Spain and other countries unknown to the broader Ukrainian public. 

I even encourage my colleagues from our media to contact Pablo if they needed someone knowledgeable about European affairs and people indeed contacted him. Pablo's round face with a truly Spanish conquistador-like beard occasionally appeared on Ukrainian television. 

Then the big war came. I quit journalism and joined the Army, and I forgot about Pablo as well as almost everything from my peaceful life. And a few days ago I read about the exchange. The article had a photo of the exchanged. Among them was the portrait of Pablo Gonzalez. As it turned out, he was neither Pablo, nor Gonzalez. His name was Pavel Rubstov. He's a Russian intelligence agent. His task was to establish friendly relations with journalists and politicians in Ukraine and neighboring countries. He was detained in Poland a few days after the start of a full scale invasion in February, 2022, he was snooping around the Ukrainian border.

He definitely did not learn anything secret from me- I never had access to any secrets, but unfortunately I helped legalized him in Ukraine. Made him recognizable without knowing the truth about him and recommended him to others as a speaker. I feel ashamed and hurt because of this. 

Pablo Gonzales. This name is not caricatured as it seemed to me. It is a cover name. Go and try to find data about every Gonzales in the world. He chose it, or rather it was chosen for him by his commanders to lose him among millions of real Gonzalez's.  

It's a pity that he was handed over to the Russians. I would like spies to stay behind bars, and I'm also curious about what happened to his Ukrainian girlfriend. Is she also a victim of his deception or an accomplice of a enemy who helped him in his wild work?