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Russian Ministry of Interior ready to resolve Adrien Bocquet’s legal status — spokeswoman

Irina Volk noted that explanations on the procedure of application for provision of political shelter and refugee status were sent to Bocquet in December

MOSCOW, January 16. /TASS/. The Russian Ministry of the Interior is ready to review the issue of legal status of French reporter Adrien Bocquet, should he file such request, Ministry Spokeswoman Irina Volk told TASS Monday.

"The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia is ready to review the issue of defining the legal status of French reporter Adrien Bocquet on the territory of the Russian Federation, should a corresponding application be received from him. He needs to contact the territorial Ministry migration body in his place of stay. The decision will be made, based on the federal law and with consideration of the available information about the reporter’s persecution for his active pro-Russian position," she said.

The spokeswoman noted that explanations on the procedure of application for provision of political shelter and refugee status were sent to Bocquet in December.

Bocquet - is a former French serviceman. In Donetsk, he acts as an invited expert on NATO weapons at the DPR Mission to the Joint Control and Coordination Center (JCCC) on Ukrainian war crimes. In addition, he acts as a volunteer. Bocquet has become the first Western volunteer, who publicly stated that the events in Bucha were a blatant provocation of Ukrainian armed forces. Previously, he was subjected to an ungrounded criminal prosecution in France and almost died when Ukrainian nationalists assaulted him in Istanbul.

On January 11, Bocquet told TASS that he requested Russian citizenship and political shelter in Russia.

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