MOSCOW: Russia said Thursday it had freed French researcher Laurent Vinatier in a prisoner exchange, more than 18 months after arresting him on suspicion of violating “foreign agent” laws that Paris had denounced as abhorrent.

He was released in exchange for 26-year-old basketball player Daniil Kasatkin, arrested by French authorities last June on US hacking charges, Russia’s FSB said.

“Our compatriot Laurent Vinatier is free and back in France,” President Emmanuel Macron wrote on X. “I share the relief felt by his family and loved ones.” Vinatier was arrested in Russia in June 2024 while gathering what prosecutors said was information about Russia’s military activities.

He was later sentenced to three years for failing to register as a “foreign agent”, and faced new spying charges that could have seen him sentenced to up to 20 years in jail.

The Kremlin announced last month it had made an offer to France regarding Vinatier — who was working for a Swiss conflict-mediation NGO at the time of his arrest — raising hopes he could be freed.

Russian state TV outlets published a video of a smiling Vinatier being released from jail, dressed in black and with a large black holdall. He was later seen boarding an aircraft.

He arrived in Paris on Thursday, a diplomatic source said.

Russia’s FSB said Vinatier had been “pardoned” by presidential decree.

Western countries have long accused Russia of arresting their citizens to use as bargaining chips to secure the release of alleged Russian spies and cyber criminals jailed in Europe and the United States.

Kasatkin, whom France released in the deal, was arrested last year at a Paris airport at the request of the United States.

Published in Dawn, January 9th, 2026