French citizen jailed in Russia for alleged military data gathering

A French citizen was sentenced to three years in Russian prison after being convicted by a Moscow court of collecting military information. 

Laurent Vinatier reportedly admitted guilt, with his lawyers asking the court to sentence him with a fine. 

Addressing the court before sentencing, Vinatier reaffirmed in Russian that he fully recognised his guilt and asked the judge for clemency. 

“I’m asking the Russian Federation to forgive me for failing to observe Russian laws,” he said. 

The 48-year-old political scholar said he fell in love with Russia 20 years ago when he began studying the country and concluded his comments with a verse by Russian poet Alexander Pushkin about having patience that better days lie ahead. 

His arrest came as tensions flared between Moscow and Paris after French President Emmanuel Macron discussed the possibility of deploying French troops in Ukraine. 

Russia accused him of failing to register as a “foreign agent” while collecting information about Russia’s “military and military-technical activities” that could be used to the detriment of the country’s security. 

Prosecutors charged him with collecting this information during meetings with Russian citizens in 2021 and 2022.  

The charges against the Frenchman relate to a law requiring anyone collecting information on military issues to register as a foreign agent. 

Human rights activists have expressed concern about the law, saying it is part of a Kremlin crackdown on independent media and political activists intended to stifle criticism of Moscow’s actions against Ukraine. 

The charges facing Vinatier carried a sentence of up to five years imprisonment, but Vinatier’s admission of guilt and cooperation with investigators were mitigating factors. 

His lawyers had argued the sentence was too harsh and pointed to his career as a political scholar focused on studying Russia – emphasising that his books and articles have been friendly to the country. 

Vinatier is an adviser for the Swiss-based NGO Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, which said in June that it was doing “everything possible to assist” him. 

Detentions on charges of spying and collecting sensitive data have become increasingly frequent in Russia since Moscow launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February of 2022.