French citizen accused of espionage in Russia. Macron responds

This was reported by CNN.

On Thursday, June 6, the Russian Investigative Committee reported that a French citizen, an employee of the non-profit organization Swiss Center for Humanitarian Dialogue, was detained on suspicion of “collecting information in the field of military activities of the Russian Federation,” TASS reports.

“For these purposes, he repeatedly visited the territory of Russia, including the city of Moscow, where he held meetings with citizens of the Russian Federation,” the Investigative Committee said.

A representative of the Investigative Committee told the Russian state news agency TASS that the man worked as a consultant for a non-profit organization that dealt with Eurasian issues after the 2014 Maidan in Ukraine.

Macron reacts

French President Emmanuel Macron has denied that the citizen detained in Russia is connected to the French government.

“In no way was he working for France. Now we are very vigilant, he will receive all the consular protections that apply in such a case. I want to say the truth in the face of the brainwashing that we hear,” Macron said.

• At the end of March 2023, the Russian FSB detained The Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich in Yekaterinburg (Ural, Russia), who was to write about Russians' attitudes to the war in Ukraine and the recruitment of locals to Wagner's PMC. He was arrested in an espionage case.
• On Tuesday, March 26, a Moscow court ruled to keep American reporter for The Wall Street Journal Evan Gershkovich in jail on espionage charges until at least June 30. He has been behind bars for almost a year.