MOSCOW, July 10. /TASS/. The Russian Foreign Ministry is keeping close watch over the situation regarding Russian basketballer Daniil Kasatkin, who was earlier detained in France, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said on Thursday.

"Of course, we do," the diplomat said at a press briefing in response to whether the Russian Foreign Ministry was working to resolve the situation regarding the Russian national in France and if it is following the developments.

The French governing prosecution body, Tribunal de Paris, announced to TASS that Kasatkin had been temporarily detained in France while awaiting extradition paperwork from the US authorities.

"Kasatkin was apprehended as part of a preliminary request filed by the United States," the French prosecutors’ body stated. "He is temporarily in custody pending the submission of documents by the American authorities for his extradition."

The prosecutor's office pointed out that "in accordance with the bilateral agreement, such documents must be provided within a period of 60 days. The date of the new hearings has not yet been determined."

Earlier, French lawyer Frederic Belo, lead attorney for Kasatkin, told TASS that amid his client's pending extradition to the United States, the defense had not even received a warrant for his arrest. The lawyer expressed confidence that Kasatkin will be found innocent on all charges.

Belo also said that Kasatkin pinned his hopes on the support of Russian basketball fans and his country’s authorities on the whole under the current circumstances.

"Kasatkin maintains his innocence and counts on the support of Russian basketball fans as well as of the Russian government, which he believes will help him get through this very difficult time in his career and personal life," the lawyer said.

"Kasatkin is the victim of a serious miscarriage of justice. Mr. Kasatkin, who has no knowledge of computer science, simply used an outdated computer without changing the system’s user account," Belo told TASS.

"His approved account was clearly hacked and was remotely controlled by cybercriminals, unbeknownst to Kasatkin," Kasatkin’s lawyer added.

Kasatkin was arrested at Paris' Charles de Gaulle Airport at the request of US authorities on June 21. He is suspected of being part of a hacker group that carried out ransomware attacks targeting US businesses and federal agencies.

Belo appealed to a Paris court that Kasatkin should be released on his own recognizance, guaranteeing that he would stay in the country and not flee his bail, but the court was not convinced, ruling on July 9 to keep him in custody.