"A Moscow court sentenced Vinatier in October 2024 to three years in prison on charges spying and for failing to register as a foreign agent. Russian investigators claimed he pleaded guilty to illegally obtaining information about the Russian military. After his plea was entered -- France had denied he was a spy -- investigators dropped the espionage charges. Russia's FSB security service said Vinatier had been "pardoned" by presidential decree."
"Vinatier is an adviser for the Geneva-based Center for Humanitarian Dialogue, a nonprofit conflict-resolution organization, and "travels regularly for his work," according to his employer. In exchange for the Frenchman, Paris agreed to release 26-year-old basketball player Daniil Kasatkin, who arrested by France last June at a Paris airport at the request of the United States, where he is accused him of having allegedly taken part in a ransomware hacking ring. He has denied the charge."
Russia freed Laurent Vinatier on January 8 in a swap that returned a Russian basketball player to Moscow. The exchange followed recent signals between Moscow and Paris toward re-establishing ties strained by Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Vinatier had been sentenced in October 2024 to three years for spying and for failing to register as a foreign agent; Russian investigators said he pleaded guilty to illegally obtaining information about the Russian military, and later dropped the espionage charge. Russia's FSB said he was pardoned by presidential decree. Paris released 26-year-old Daniil Kasatkin, arrested last June at U.S. request on alleged ransomware-hacking involvement; he denies the accusation.
Read at RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
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