MOSCOW, June 7. /TASS/. Charges of collecting information on Russian military issues has been brought against Frenchman Laurent Vinatier, an employee with the Swiss Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue (HD), who was detained in Moscow on Thursday, the Russian Investigative Committee’s Moscow department told TASS.

"A criminal case against a French citizen has been brought. He is accused of committing a crime under the Russian Criminal Code Article 330.1, Part 3 (evasion of duties envisaged by the legislation of the Russian Federation on foreign agents - TASS). <…> The investigation will petition the Zamoskvoretsky district court in Moscow to impose a preventive measure on the person [charged with a criminal offence] later today," the investigators said in a statement.

Russia’s top state criminal investigation body said earlier that, for several years, the man, who failed to register himself as a foreign agent in compliance with Russian legislation, has been gathering information on Russia’s military and military-technical activities. For these purposes, he has repeatedly visited Russia, including Moscow, for meetings with Russian nationals. An investigation is underway.