MOSCOW, Jan. 8 (Xinhua) -- Russian basketball player Daniil Kasatkin has been exchanged for Laurent Vinatier, a Frenchman previously convicted in Russia, the Federal Security Service (FSB) of Russia said Thursday.
According to the FSB, Vinatier had been serving a prison sentence in Russia and was pardoned by a presidential decree before the exchange.
Vinatier, who worked for the Swiss non-governmental organization "Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue," had engaged in collecting military and military-technical information, said the FSB.
On Oct. 14, 2024, Vinatier was sentenced by a Moscow court to three years in prison for failing to fulfill Russia's legal requirements for registration as a foreign agent, it said.
Earlier on Thursday, Kasatkin's lawyer Frederic Belot said the Russian athlete was released from a French prison overnight, regained his freedom and returned to Moscow.
Kasatkin was detained at a Paris airport on June 21, 2025 at the request of U.S. authorities and held in custody on suspicion of involvement with a hacking group. ■