A Polish court today convicted 14 members of a spy ring that allegedly planned sabotage and gathered intelligence on behalf of Russia.

The defendants were prosecuted last month on suspicion of plotting to derail trains carrying aid to neighboring Ukraine and of monitoring military installations and critical infrastructure in NATO and EU member Poland.

“After examining the case, the court found all the defendants guilty of the offenses and considers that some of them acted within the framework of a criminal organization,” Judge Jaroslav Kowalski announced in announcing the verdict.

All the accused had pleaded guilty but none of them were present in the courtroom today.

Members of the network are “Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians,” Lublin court spokeswoman Barbara Markowska told AFP.

Two other members of the network who retracted their initial confessions will be tried separately.

Among those convicted is Russian Maxim S., an athlete who played for the Polish ice hockey team Sosnowiec. Moscow strongly protested his arrest last June and demanded a “full explanation” from Poland.

Other members of the group were “two Ukrainian lawyers and a political scientist, a French teacher, an IT engineer and a pharmacist,” according to the Rzeczpospolita newspaper.

According to the Polish investigative authorities, the members of the network received orders through Telegram and paying in cryptocurrencies. Polish media reported that the sums ranged from $300 to $10,000. Among the facilities being monitored were border checkpoints on the border with Ukraine and rail lines used to transport weapons and humanitarian aid to that neighboring country. They also spread propaganda inciting hatred for the Ukrainian people.

Poland strongly supports Ukraine after Russia invades in February 2022.