Russia said on Friday that French authorities had failed to inform it of the detention of a Russian citizen suspected of wanting to “destabilize” the Paris Olympics on behalf of Moscow and who was placed in pretrial detention on Tuesday.
“We did not receive any information. We saw the information in the media,” Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
According to Peskov, the Russian embassy in Paris should have been informed of the arrest, but this was not done.
“We hope [a detenção] be reported” to Russian authorities, the spokesman added.
French prosecutors on Tuesday opened an investigation into a Russian national accused of being an agent of “a foreign power with the aim of provoking military action in France,” a crime that could carry a sentence of up to 30 years in prison.
According to the prosecution, the suspect’s home, “born in May 1984 in Russia,” contained “elements indicating his intention to organize actions that could lead to destabilization during the Olympic Games” in Paris, which start today in the French capital and will last until August 11.
According to a number of international media outlets, including the French newspaper Le Monde and the German magazine Der Spiegel, the man is suspected of being an agent of the Federal Security Service of Russia (FSB, the Russian security service that replaced the KGB).
The man, identified by international media as Kirill Gryaznov, introduced himself as a chef who had trained at a culinary school in Paris. According to the same sources, he also worked in the financial sector and participated in two reality shows in Russia.
Le Monde newspaper also reported that the man suffers from alcoholism.
Details about the nature of the suspect’s plans, which are not expected to be terrorism-related, have not been released because the National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office has not been assigned to investigate the case.
In recent months, Russia has been suspected of several destabilization operations, some of which have attracted considerable media attention in France, in the context of worsening relations between Paris and Moscow following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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