Russia reported on Thursday that it had detained a Frenchman suspected of eliciting information about the Russian army, an action that French President Emmanuel Macron described as part of a Moscow-sponsored propaganda plan.
The nonprofit Center for Humanitarian Dialogue ( HD), based in Switzerland, made it known that Laurent Vinatier, 47, was being detained as a member of the organization’s advisory team for Russia and Eurasia. Macron refuted Vinatier’s assertion that he worked for the European government.
The Frenchman was alleged to have “purposefully collected information in the field of martial and military-technical activities of the Russian Federation” over the course of many years that might have been used against the state’s protection.
The man, who they did not give a name, may soon get charged under a Russian rules for failing to register as a “foreign adviser,” which carries a five-year prison sentence.
Macron claimed that the affair was an example of Russian advertising and that he worked for a European NGO, which was started by former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, and that it engaged in “diplomacy and discussion work.”
” Under no circumstances is it somebody who works for France”, Macron said.
A member of HD told Reuters:” We are working to get more information of the situation and to safe Laurent’s transfer”.
The site of HD says it has operated since 1999 to “help prevent, alleviate and handle military conflict through speech and counseling” in countries such as Spain, the Philippines and Libya.
Vinatier’s LinkedIn website says he has been an assistant to the Eurasia/Russia Programme at HD for 10 years, based in Geneva.
He has given lectures on international relations and social economy at several Western universities and earned his PhD researching the Chechen diaspora. He has written numerous publications about Russia, the Caucasus, and Central Asia.
After the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Vinatier continued to spend day in Russia. According to a notice posted on the temple web, he had a meeting with Moscow Orthodox Church members in April 2022.
MASKED MEN IN RESTAURANT
A man wearing jeans and a dark top were detained by security personnel with veils over their heads in a northern Moscow restaurant, according to a short video clip released by the Investigative Committee. He was led into a tower and escorted into a vehicle. The suspect’s mouth was blurred out.
Since the start of the Ukraine battle, Westerners who have been detained in Russia have found themselves caught up in Moscow’s internal conflict.
U.S. writer Evan Gershkovich was detained last year on suspicion of attempting to obtain military secrets. He was also charged with spy, which could lead to a statement of up to 20 years. Another British, Paul Whelan, was convicted in 2020 and is serving a 16- time word for spying. The United States has designated both as “wrongfully detained” and is seeking their discharge.
Police in Vladivostok, in the far east of the country, detained U.S. guy Gordon Black on May 2 and set him on trial on Thursday for allegedly threatening to kill his Russian girl on May 2.
Alsu Kurmasheva, a journalist from Russia, was detained in October and is awaiting trial on charges of failing to register as a “foreign agent,” a title Russia uses to describe individuals and groups that use international funds to carry out social activities and have extensively used to suppress dissent.
