Vinatier-for-Basketball Player Swap: French Researcher Returns to France

French researcher Laurent Vinatier, imprisoned in Russia since June 2024, was released and returned to Paris on Thursday, in exchange for the release and return to Russia of Russian basketball player Daniil Kasatkin, who was requested by American justice.

This release comes as Paris and Moscow have recently expressed their interest in direct contact at the summit, against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine. In December, the Kremlin announced that Vladimir Putin was ready to speak to Emmanuel Macron, responding to statements to this effect from the French president.

Laurent Vinatier arrived at the beginning of the afternoon at the Villacoublay military base, near Paris, before being welcomed with his parents at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs where he spoke with the head of diplomacy Jean-Noël Barrot.

“I share the relief of his family and loved ones,” President Emmanuel Macron immediately reacted on the social network X, welcoming the “mobilization” of diplomatic agents.

The Russian security service (FSB) had clarified earlier that the researcher had been released in exchange for the basketball player, detained in France since last June at the request of the American justice system, which suspects him of being a member of a hacker group.

“It’s a huge relief,” commented to AFP the lawyer for the researcher’s parents, Me Frédéric Bélot.

Bilateral relations have been significantly deteriorated since the Russian invasion of Ukraine: Paris accuses the Russian authorities of acts of destabilization while the Kremlin criticizes France for its support for kyiv or even for censoring the Russian media.

At the end of December, the possibility of Laurent Vinatier being exchanged was nevertheless raised after Moscow declared having made a “proposal” to France in this matter.

In a press release, the FSB announced that Daniil Kasatkin had returned to Russia on Thursday and had been “exchanged” for Laurent Vinatier.

Shortly after, he broadcast a video of the release of Laurent Vinatier. We see the researcher listening to a man read a document announcing his pardon by President Vladimir Putin before joining a plane from which basketball player Daniil Kasatkin got out.

– Espionage accusations –

A researcher specializing in the post-Soviet space, Laurent Vinatier, 49, was working at the time of his arrest for the Center for Humanitarian Dialogue, a Swiss NGO which mediates in conflicts outside official diplomatic circuits, particularly regarding Ukraine.

This NGO stressed Thursday that it “would like to thank all stakeholders for their efforts and expresses its deep relief to see Laurent reunited with his loved ones.”

Regarding Daniil Kasatkin, the French justice system had given a favorable opinion for his extradition at the end of October, but ultimately “there was no decree of extradition to the United States from the French Prime Minister”, explained to AFP Mr. Frédéric Bélot, his lawyer.

Washington was informed by Paris of the basketball player’s return to Russia, according to a source with knowledge of the matter.

In June 2024, Laurent Vinatier was arrested in Russia and then sentenced to three years in prison for not having registered as a “foreign agent”. The person concerned said he did not know that it was obligatory in his case.

Even if he had not been officially declared a “foreign agent” by Moscow, he should have reported himself as such because, according to Russian justice, he was collecting “military information” that could be “used against the security” of Russia.

Last August, he appeared this time in the context of a much more serious case for “espionage”, a crime punishable by 20 years in prison in Russia and which raised fears of a very heavy additional sentence.

After this closed-door hearing, he declared that he was “tired” and replied “yes” when a journalist asked him if he considered himself a “hostage” of Russian power.

– Towards a resumption of dialogue? –

Moscow has arrested several Western nationals on various grounds, including “espionage”, since the launch of the large-scale attack on Ukraine in February 2022, and has carried out prisoner exchanges with the United States.

At the end of November, three people were also indicted and imprisoned in Paris as part of a double case of interference and economic espionage for the benefit of Moscow.

In December, Emmanuel Macron, however, judged that it would “become useful again” for Europeans to talk to Vladimir Putin, rather than leaving the United States alone – which has established itself as the main mediator in the settlement of the Ukrainian conflict – to maneuver in the negotiations.

Asked about a possible resumption of bilateral discussions, French diplomats refused any comment.