A court in Poland sentenced former Open Russia coordinator Igor Rogov to seven years in prison, while his wife, Irina Rogova, received a three-year sentence in a case on spying for Russia. The ruling was reported by Onet.
Rogov was found guilty of espionage and of taking part in sending a parcel containing an explosive device. His wife was convicted of aiding and inciting espionage. The trial was held behind closed doors.
According to calculations by the outlet Vot Tak, after credit for time already spent in custody, Rogov could be released in about five years, while his wife could be freed in roughly a year and a half.
Prosecutors said that in February through August 2022, Rogov gathered information for the FSB about members of the Russian opposition living in Poland, as well as the people and organizations helping them. According to the prosecution, he then passed the information to his wife, who forwarded it to Russia.
Vot Tak, citing the indictment, wrote that during the investigation Rogov himself described his work for the FSB, which allegedly began before he emigrated. At the same time, the outlet noted that the document did not say investigators had evidence directly linking the activist to the Russian security service.
Wirtualna Polska had previously reported that after the war began, FSB officers threatened Rogov and said they would send his father to fight in Ukraine. Prosecutors’ documents, according to media reports, said Irina Rogova knew about her husband’s cooperation with the service, though she did not admit guilt regarding ties to the FSB.
In the second episode of the case, Rogov was accused of participating, together with two Ukrainian citizens and one Russian citizen, in sending a parcel with explosives. It was seized at a courier depot in the Lodz Voivodeship before it reached the recipient. Vot Tak reported that Rogov may have taken part in a Ukrainian intelligence operation to move explosive components through Poland into Russia without the knowledge of the Polish authorities.
In 2017, Rogov served as deputy coordinator of Alexei Navalny’s headquarters in Saransk and later worked for Open Russia. In 2020, he and Open Russia staff member Artyom Vazhenkov were detained and beaten in Minsk during protests after the presidential election. After Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began, Rogov received asylum in Poland, and in 2024 he was detained.