Russia has arrested a French “spy” operating in Moscow on Thursday and is being detained under the suspicion of gathering information of the military.
The unnamed Frenchman was seen being loaded into the back of a van by masked security officials.
Russia’s Investigative Committee said he was involved with “targeted collection of information in the field of military (and) military-technical activities of the Russian Federation.”
”Such information, if obtained by foreign sources, may be used against the security of the state,” they added.
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The Committee said the Frenchman had been repeatedly coming to Russia over several years who has had meetings with ordinary Russians.
If Russia’s claims are in fact true then this will pose a problem for relations between Paris and Moscow.
The French President Emmanuel Macron has issued a warning to Vladimir Putin he will not rule out sending troops to Ukraine if Russian forces break through the frontlines.
Also Ukrainian officials have signed an agreement with France to receive assistance from their military trainers.
This has angered the Kremlin as the Russian chief of Foreign Intelligence, Sergei Naryshkin said that if Emmanuel Macron sends troops to Ukraine, then they will be “legitimate targets” for Russia.
❗️BREAKING || FRENCH SPY DETAINED IN MOSCOW
🇫🇷🇷🇺 In Moscow, a French citizen was detained on the suspicion of receiving a sensitive military intel about the Russian Armed Forces. pic.twitter.com/RhptACSIOD— Bloomberg Whistleblower (@bloombergblower) June 6, 2024
On Tuesday the Kremlin issued a warning to Western military instructors who are in Ukraine, there will be no “immunity” for them with Russian attacks.
The Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, “Any instructors who are engaged in training the Ukrainian regime do not have any immunity. It does not matter whether they are French or not.”
Russia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov has said during a visit to Republic of Congo that French military instructors who are “already in Ukraine” are “legitimate targets” for Russian forces.
