As part of an agreement between the two countries, the Russian authorities on Thursday released French researcher Laurent Vinatier, who has been imprisoned since 2024. This comes in exchange for the French authorities releasing Russian basketball player Daniil Kasatkin, who is wanted by the United States.
Vinatier arrived in Paris, where he was received at the headquarters of the French Foreign Ministry, according to what the ministry announced, while Kasatkin returned to Russia, according to what the Russian Federal Security Service announced.
The agency said in a statement carried by Russian news agencies that President Vladimir Putin pardoned Vinatier, who was sentenced to three years in prison for not declaring himself as a “foreign agent” in Russia, and who was recently charged with new espionage.
The Russian security service published a video clip of his release, showing him leaving a prison in an area where snow was falling, then getting into a car, and then boarding a small plane.
Vinatier, 49 years old, is a researcher specializing in the post-Soviet space file, and was working on Russian soil with the Center for Humanitarian Dialogue, the Swiss non-governmental organization that mediates conflicts outside official diplomatic circles.
As for Kasatkin, he was arrested in France in June 2025 at the request of the American judiciary on suspicion of his involvement in an electronic hacking network.
France 24/AFP
