PARIS, July 24. /TASS/. The Russian embassy has not received any information on the detention of a Russian citizen accused of "destabilizing" the pre-Olympics situation in the capital, the Russian Embassy in Paris told TASS.
"The French authorities have not sent any official notifications on the detention to the embassy. We requested a clarification ourselves. We will seek reaction," the embassy’s press service stated. In addition, the body pointed out that it had received no information on detentions of other Russian citizens in recent days cited by French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin in an interview to BFMTV.
Earlier, he confirmed the reports disseminated in the media on the detention of a Russian citizen in Paris. He is suspected of preparing some espionage operations and "destabilizing" the situation ahead of the Olympic Games. The minister did not provide any clarification on the kind of activities that the detainee was involved in, but assumed that he could have assisted cyberattacks or "information manipulation" operations.
According to the minister, the man arrived in France recently. He added that few more Russians were detained in recent days, but did not specify the grounds.
Earlier, Darmanin told Le Journal du Dimanche in an interview that "a considerable number" of Russian journalists were not allowed to the French Olympics "precautionary" and for preventing any potential "espionage." Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Paris has politicized the issue of allowing Russian journalists to the Olympics, which is viewed by Moscow "in a very negative way." According to him, France has abandoned all its commitments to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and other organizations by acting this way. Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told TASS in this regard that preserving the rights of journalists and securing freedom of speech are null and void issues for French President Emmanuel Macron.