The Zamoskvoretsky District Court of Moscow placed French citizen Laurent Vinatier in a pre-trial detention center. He was charged under the article on collecting military data without registering a “foreign agent” (Part 3 of Article 330.1 of the Criminal Code), a Beware News correspondent reports from the courtroom.
The accused admitted guilt: “I don’t have any intentions to obstruct the investigation. Yesterday we had a wonderful conversation with the investigator, I think that for me it was proof of good intentions. <…> What happened was a measure not against me, but against the organization. I admitted my guilt.»
According to the Investigative Committee, Vinatier, who has a doctorate in political science, “collected information in the field of Russian military activities” and did not register himself with the Ministry of Justice.
The detainee “repeatedly visited territory of Russia, including the city of Moscow, where he held meetings with citizens of the Russian Federation,” the department’s release stated.
French President Emmanuel Macron commented on Vinatier’s detention. He denies accusations of espionage by Vinatier, and considers his detention “part of a disinformation campaign” from Moscow.
Laurent Vinatier has studied military conflicts in post-Soviet countries, including the war in Chechnya, and has written several publications on the Chechen diaspora in Europe. Since 2014, he has been working at the Geneva-based Center for Humanitarian Dialogue as an advisor on organizational activities in Ukraine.
Both before and after the start of a full-scale war, he came to events in Moscow, including those organized by pro-government institutions. For example, in 2023, Vinatier spoke about “conflict mediation” at a round table at the Government’s Financial Academy, and in 2021, at a round table at the RIA Novosti press center, he “presented the European Union’s point of view” on the migration crisis at the border EU with Belarus.