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Frenchman pleads guilty in Russian military espionage case

The investigative Committee points out that Vinatier is charged with failing to comply with his obligations under Russia’s foreign agent legislation

MOSCOW, July 3. /TASS/. French national Laurent Vinatier (labeled in Russia as a foreign agent) has pleaded guilty to illegally gathering information on Russia’s military activities, the Russian Investigative Committee said in a statement.

"Seven witnesses with whom the defendant met to gather information on Russia’s military and defense activities were questioned in the case. The audio recordings of the meetings were sent for linguistic forensic analysis. Investigators assessed the results of law enforcement intelligence operations and examined the technical means seized from the defendant. He fully pleaded guilty during questioning," the statement reads.

The investigative Committee points out that Vinatier is charged with failing to comply with his obligations under Russia’s foreign agent legislation.

According to investigators, Vinatier has never provided the authorities with the documents required for being included in the list of foreign agents, while illegally gathering information on Russia's military and defense activities. This information, if obtained by foreign sources, could be used against the security of the state, the Investigative Committee noted. For this purpose, the defendant visited Russia, including Moscow, and met with Russian nationals. The investigative body added that his criminal activities had been thwarted through joint efforts by investigators from the Moscow branch of the Investigative Committee and the Federal Security Service (FSB).

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