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A French citizen has been detained in Russia on suspicion of collecting information on military activities, Russia’s federal investigating authority said Thursday.
“According to the investigation, for several years, the defendant … carried out a purposeful collection of information in the field of military and military-technical activities of the Russian Federation,” a statement from the Russian Investigative Committee read. “Such information, if obtained by foreign sources, may be used against the security of the State.”
The arrest was made on the basis of Russia’s foreign agent law which requires anyone identified as having foreign support or influence to register with the justice ministry, leaving them subject to hefty bureaucracy and state surveillance.
According to the Investigative Committee, the arrested French national intentionally did not comply with this regulation.
Radio Free Europe first reported that the arrested individual is Laurent Vinatier, an academic specializing on Russia and the former Soviet Union affiliated with the Center for Humanitarian Dialogue, a Swiss non-profit that works to prevent and resolve armed conflicts. “We are aware that Laurent Vinatier, an advisor at the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue (HD), has been detained in Russia,” HD told POLITICO in a written response. “We are working to get more details of the circumstances and to secure Laurent’s release.”
A video published by Russian state news agency TASS showed a man being escorted from a café terrace by law enforcement agents.
The French Embassy in Moscow declined to comment or confirm the identity of the detainee. The foreign affairs ministry said it had no comment on the matter at this stage.
The arrest comes a few days after a Russian-Ukrainian citizen was detained in France. The French prosecutor for anti-terrorist operations told POLITICO that the 26-year-old man had been detained on charges of “participating in a terrorist conspiracy to prepare crimes against people.”
Police discovered “products and materials intended for the manufacture of explosive devices” in his hotel room near the Paris Roissy airport Saturday — one of which exploded and caused him severe burns.
The arrest is the latest in a series of high-profile cases involving foreigners including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who was arrested in Russia on espionage charges more than a year ago. The detention also comes on the same day Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in France to join D-day 80th anniversary commemorations.
Pierre Emmanuel Ngendakumana contributed to this report.
