Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
Laurent Vinatier was sentenced to three years in prison for allegedly violating Russian “foreign agent” laws.
A French researcher serving a three-year sentence in Russia has been released as part of a prisoner exchange with Moscow, French and Russian officials said.
President Emmanuel Macron announced the release of Laurent Vinatier, imprisoned for allegedly violating Russian “foreign agent” laws, saying the researcher was “free and back in France.”
Recommended Stories
list of 3 itemsend of list
“I share the relief of his family and loved ones. My gratitude to our diplomatic agents for their mobilization,” Macron said on Thursday.
The Russian security service FSB announced that Vinatier, 49, had been exchanged for basketball player Daniil Kasatkin, 26.
Kasatkin was arrested last June at a Paris airport and was wanted by the United States for his alleged involvement in ransomware attacks – an allegation Kasatkin had previously denied.
The FSB said Vinatier was pardoned by President Vladimir Putin, who promised last month to look into the case after a French journalist raised it at the Kremlin leader’s annual news conference.
Vinatier was arrested by the FSB in a Moscow restaurant in June 2024 and convicted four months later for violating the law requiring people considered “foreign agents” to register with Russian authorities.
While behind bars, he was further investigated for espionage, and he was likely to face a retrial in the coming months.
The FSB said the researcher, acting on instructions from Swiss intelligence services, had collected sensitive political and military information, including combat and training plans, that could target Moscow’s security.
However, he indicated that the proceedings against Vinatier had been dismissed due to his “active repentance”.
Before being arrested, Vinatier worked for the Center for Humanitarian Dialogue, a conflict mediation organization based in Switzerland, where his academic colleagues respected him.
During his trial, the researcher said he loved Russia, apologized for breaking the law and even recited a verse by Russian poet Alexander Pushkin.
Frédéric Belot, a lawyer representing Vinatier, said the decision was a “huge relief.”
“We are extremely happy that he was released for Orthodox Christmas,” added Belot, who also represents Kasatkin.
Franco-Russian relations
Relations between Paris and Moscow have become frosty following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Although Macron has openly expressed support for kyiv’s military efforts alongside other European allies, including the United Kingdom, he has also expressed his willingness to engage with Russia to end the war.
On Thursday, Moscow condemned a security plan agreed by Ukraine and its European allies in the French capital, Paris, including the deployment of a peacekeeping force as an “axis of war.”
Earlier this week, European leaders and US envoys announced that security guarantees for kyiv would include a US-led monitoring mechanism and a European multinational force, in the event of a ceasefire.
However, Moscow rejected this plan.
“All these units and installations will be considered legitimate military targets for the Russian armed forces,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement.
