French authorities have arrested three people on suspicion of spying for Russia and promoting its war propaganda as part of an investigation into the activities of a French-Russian association, prosecutors said on Tuesday. This was reported by Euractiv, writes UNN.
Details
The arrests come amid growing concerns about Russian interference across Europe, with Western capitals accusing Moscow's intelligence services as the Kremlin's military campaign in Ukraine continues.
One of the detainees, a 40-year-old Russian, was caught on surveillance cameras in September pasting pro-Russian posters on the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, the city prosecutor's office said.
After that, the man reported by phone to the head of the SOS Donbass association - also a 40-year-old woman, whom French counterintelligence suspected of trying to obtain economic information from the heads of French companies.
The woman, who was born in Russia, has been on the radar of France's internal security service - the General Directorate for Internal Security (DGSI) - since at least the beginning of the year.
After the DGSI discovered "actions capable of harming the fundamental interests of the nation," an investigating judge was appointed in March to investigate a number of alleged offenses, including "cooperation with a foreign state," punishable by 10 years in prison.
The third person arrested is a 63-year-old man born in the northern Paris suburb of Seine-Saint-Denis.
A fourth suspect, 58, avoided pre-trial detention but is under strict surveillance and is required to report to the police station weekly.
For reference
As the publication notes, SOS Donbass positions itself as a humanitarian organization that provides assistance to civilians in eastern Donbas in Ukraine, part of which is under Moscow's control.