MOSCOW, April 4. /TASS/. The Russian Foreign Ministry urges Russians planning to attend the upcoming Paris Olympics to be cautious, as provocations and detentions are possible, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.
"Our citizens, compatriots who were planning to come to Paris for the Olympics, need to be extremely careful, because there may be provocations, there may be illegal detentions, including kidnappings, the way it happened to our compatriots, Russian citizens all these years," the diplomat said in an interview with Match TV.
"You know about the dozens of cases of illegal kidnappings of citizens through arrests, detentions and so on. Here we hear a literal intimidation of our citizens through officials, through their speeches and statements, and I believe that there is no other way to take these words," she added.
Zakharova also noted that Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, in her recent statement that Russian and Belarusian athletes would not be welcome at the games, was "out of line." "This is beyond what is called behavior within international legal norms. Here you can find racism, here you can find nationalism, here you can find politicization of sport, here you can find segregation, here you can find anything. But, in my opinion, it is very important that for France this should become indicative, because this is, among other things, the destruction of democratic norms and principles," she added.
Earlier, Russian Ambassador to France Alexey Meshkov warned Russian tourists wishing to attend the Olympics about the risks of unforeseen incidents and limited opportunities to get help.