Russia: A French national employed with a Geneva-based organization that mediates conflicts has been detained by Russia on charges that he has been collecting intelligence on the armed forces without registering as a “foreign agent.”
The guy is accused of having “purposefully collected information in the field of military and military-technical activities of the Russian Federation” over a number of years, according to the state Investigative Committee of Russia. This information might be used against the security of the state.
The committee, which looks into big crimes, posted a brief video of masked officers approaching a man wearing black T-shirt and jeans on the terrace of a restaurant in the center of Moscow, and then leading him into a police van.
The man’s face was obscured in the video and could not be positively identified, but the official TASS news agency recognized him as Laurent Vinatier.
The charity Center for Humanitarian Dialogue (HD) stated that it was working to secure Vinatier’s release after learning that the 47-year-old consultant on Russia and Eurasia had been detained.
“We are working to get more details of the circumstances and to secure Laurent’s release,” the group said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Russian disinformation campaign leader Emmanuel Macron said Vinatier was arrested as part of a disinformation operation against the French government.
Anyone who receives foreign assistance or is subject to “foreign influence” is required to register as a “foreign agent” under Russian rules that were used to suppress critics of the Kremlin. Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan launched HD, which aims to resolve and mediate military situations worldwide.
After Russia started its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, there have been a rising number of arrests there on suspicion of spying and gathering sensitive data.
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