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The Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue (HD) confirmed that 47-year-old Laurent Vinatier was being held in Moscow and said it was working towards his release.
Russia has arrested a French national working for a Geneva-based conflict mediation organisation for allegedly gathering intelligence on the military and failing to register as a “foreign agent”.
Russia’s State Investigative Committee said the man was suspected of “intentionally collecting information that could be contrary to state security in the field of military and military-technical activities of the Russian Federation” over several years.
The committee, which investigates serious crimes, released a short video showing a man wearing jeans and a black T-shirt being approached by undercover officers on the terrace of a restaurant in central Moscow and then taken into a police vehicle.
The man was not identified in the video and his face was blurred, but the state news agency TASS identified him as Laurent Vinatier.
Vinatye’s lawyer, Alexei Sinitsyn, told AFP that his client was charged with violating Russia’s “foreign agent” law, but in a statement accused investigators of collecting military information that a foreign country could use against Russia.
“The Investigative Committee has now submitted an application to the court to have Vinatier detained until trial,” Sinitsyn said.
The non-profit group Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue (HD) said it was aware of the arrest of Vinatier, 47, who worked for the group as an adviser on Russia and Eurasia, and was calling for his release.
“We are working to obtain further details about the situation and secure Mr. Laurent’s release,” the group said in a statement.
Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron denied that Vinatier was working for the French government and said his arrest was part of a disinformation campaign by Moscow.
Under Russian law, which has been used to crack down on critics of the Kremlin, anyone who receives foreign support or is under “foreign influence” must register as a “foreign agent.” HD was founded by former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and works to address and mediate armed conflicts around the world.
Since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, arrests on suspicion of espionage and collecting sensitive data have become increasingly frequent in Russia.
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was arrested last year for allegedly trying to obtain military secrets and charged with espionage, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, and is currently in custody awaiting trial. The United States has declared him “wrongfully detained” and is seeking his release.
Ars Kurmasheva, a Russian-American journalist, was arrested in October and is awaiting trial on charges including failing to register as a “foreign agent.” She is also being held in custody pending trial.
According to Vinatier’s LinkedIn page, he has served as an adviser to HD’s Eurasia/Russia program since March 2014.
He holds a PhD on Chechen migration, lectures in international relations and political economy at various universities in France and Europe, and has written several books and book chapters on Russia, the Caucasus, and Central Asia.
“He is an incredible scholar who has conducted research in dangerous situations for over 15 years, including in Chechnya and Belarus,” Jean-Francois Ratel, an assistant professor at the University of Ottawa who had frequent professional contact with Vinatier, told Reuters.
“The F.S.B. [Russia’s Federal Security Service] “The FSB kept a close eye on him,” Ratel told Reuters, adding that he had been interrogated by the FSB “dozens of times” over the years during research trips to Russia.
Vinatier’s arrest “highlights how dangerous it has become to conduct academic research in Russia,” he said.
The arrests were announced shortly after France hosted a number of Western leaders for events marking the 80th anniversary of the Normandy landings on Thursday. Russia was not invited as a result of its invasion of Ukraine.
It also comes amid strained relations between Moscow and Paris after Macron spoke about the conditions under which France would be ready to send troops to Ukraine and after the Kiev government announced that France had agreed to send military instructors to the country.
Moscow has warned that French soldiers would become legitimate Russian targets if deployed to Ukraine.
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