Russia Swaps French Citizen for Basketball Player, Tass Says

Russia exchanged jailed French citizen Laurent Vinatier for a basketball player detained in France, Tass reported, weeks after President Vladimir Putin was asked about his case during a marathon news conference and call-in show.

Vinatier, who was sentenced by a Moscow court to three years in jail in October 2024 for violating a law on so-called foreign agents, was swapped for Russian basketball player Daniil Kasatkin, the Russian state-run news agency said Thursday, citing the Federal Security Service, known as the FSB.