The Frenchman was sitting on the terrace of a café in the center of Moscow when he was arrested. Without putting up any resistance, he was loaded into a police vehicle. The video then shows this nameplate of the powerful Russian Investigative Committee on the wall of a building which appears to be where the suspect is taken. Laurent Vinatier, 48, is then suspected of having illegally collected information on Russia's military activities. The researcher, a specialist in the former USSR and involved in attempts at informal mediation in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, had worked since 2014 for the Center for Humanitarian Dialogue[3], a Swiss NGO, as an advisor for Russia and the 'Eurasia. The non-governmental organization has been working for 25 years to help prevent, mitigate and resolve armed conflicts through dialogue and mediation. In 2022, Laurent Vinatier spoke about his mission on a Swiss online media channel. We present ourselves as an institution of private diplomacy. So, it's not official, it's not in the name of States, we are private actors who simply intervene and offer our services, which are most of the time, in fact, to listen to people and to, as I said, make them think about conflict exit strategies. According to the Russian investigative committee, which reports directly to the Kremlin, the Frenchman has traveled to Russia several times in recent years without declaring himself to the authorities as a foreign agent, as required by Moscow. from anyone participating in political activities or the collection of military information and benefiting from foreign support. A violation punishable by up to five years of imprisonment. Presented before a Moscow court, Laurent Vinatier pleaded guilty and apologized for not having registered as a foreign agent. He also claimed to have carried Russia's position in his work, to no avail. He was detained until August 5. The Élysée denounces, for its part, a disinformation campaign led by the Kremlin, against the backdrop of the conflict in Ukraine.