Macron tracks detention of French national accused of spying in Russia

French President Emmanuel Macron is closely monitoring the case of French citizen Laurent Vinatier, who is being held in Russia on espionage charges.

Macron “remains fully mobilised to secure his release as quickly as possible, with the support of the relevant state services,” BFMTV reports, citing sources close to the French president.

The Kremlin said earlier that contacts between Moscow and Paris regarding Vinatier’s case have taken place, during which “an offer was made to the French side.” “The ball is now in France’s court,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, without providing details.

The case was raised on December 19 during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s annual call-in show by TF1 journalist Jérôme Garro. Putin said he was hearing the name for the first time and promised to look into the matter, adding that if there were even the slightest chance to resolve the issue positively, and if Russian law allowed it, Russia would make every necessary effort to do so.

Vinatier, a consultant at the Swiss-based non-governmental Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, was detained in Russia in June 2024. Three months later, he was sentenced to three years in prison after being found guilty of collecting information about the Russian military as a foreign agent under Part 3 of Article 330.1 of the Criminal Code.

France’s Foreign Ministry called the sentence excessively harsh and criticised Russia’s foreign agent legislation, while Macron stressed that Vinatier did not work for the French authorities.

In August 2025, court records on the website of Moscow’s Lefortovo District Court revealed that the French citizen had also become a defendant in an espionage case under Article 276 of the Criminal Code, which carries a maximum sentence of up to 20 years in prison.

By Jeyhun Aghazada