A Russian has been detained in Paris on suspicion of “destabilization” ahead of the Olympics. He turned out to be a chef who has long had ties to the FSB and has appeared on television.
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The man has been living in France for 14 years; law enforcement officers found documents related to Russian special services. According to media reports, he was preparing a “large-scale project” that “could have consequences” at the Olympic Games.
Interestingly, he participated in Russian reality and cooking shows. In 2012, he moved to France, but told his friends that he would return home “to work in the Russian government.”
How did the secret services find out about his espionage and plans for the Olympic Games? The French secret services had long been monitoring this participant in a Russian reality show, who moved to France a decade and a half ago to study to become a chef.
In May, the man was supposed to return from Istanbul to Paris, but he got drunk and was not allowed on the flight. He had to go to Bulgaria, on the way he called his boss at the FSB in Moscow, after which law enforcement officers began to “track correspondence about the Olympics.”
Now the “chef” is in pretrial detention and faces up to 30 years in prison.
In total, about a thousand people were not allowed to participate in the Olympic Games in France due to suspicion of espionage.
A million volunteers and other recruited workers have undergone these checks. The head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs stated that “interference and manipulation of information” is occurring not only from Russia, but also from other countries.
Of course, we are particularly protecting the Ukrainian team, which is obviously under significant threat, the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs added.
Source: Racurs
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.