Overview
- Russia's FSB said Vinatier was released in a trade for basketball player Daniil Kasatkin, who has returned to Russia.
- France's Foreign Ministry confirmed Vinatier's arrival in Paris, where he was received at the Quai d'Orsay, and President Emmanuel Macron expressed relief.
- FSB-released footage showed officials reading a presidential pardon by Vladimir Putin and the transfer sequence as the two men boarded the same plane.
- Vinatier had been detained since June 2024 for failing to register as a "foreign agent" and was later implicated in a separate espionage case.
- Kasatkin was arrested in France in June 2025 at the request of U.S. authorities over alleged ransomware activity, and although a court backed extradition, no government decree was signed.