Russian VTB League player arrested and detained in France at US request
Jul 10, 2025
Alexandre Lacoste
Daniil Kasatkin exchanged for Laurent Vinatier: Russian basketball player freed after six months detention in France
Daniil Kasatkin, a 26-year-old Russian professional basketball player suspected of computer hacking, was exchanged Thursday for French researcher Laurent Vinatier as part of a diplomatic agreement between Paris and Moscow.
Photo Credit : DR
Russian basketball player Daniil Kasatkin (26 years old) was released this Thursday, January 8, after six months of detention in France. The professional player, who played for Moscow team MBA-MAI, was exchanged for French researcher Laurent Vinatier as part of an agreement between French and Russian authorities.
FSB released a video of the exchange of a Russian basketball player Daniil Kasatkin for French citizen Laurent Vinatier, who had been sentenced in Russia to three years in prison for espionage.
Vinatier was sent back to France on the same plane that brought Kasatkin to Russia. pic.twitter.com/bOMJRhBYMn
— Artem Komarov (@art_basket) January 8, 2026
A basketball player suspected of cybercrime
Kasatkin was arrested on June 21, 2025 at Paris Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airport, while he was in France with his fiancée whom he had just proposed to. His arrest followed a request from American authorities, who suspect him of belonging to a particularly active network of computer hackers.
The basketball player, twice bronze medalist of the Russian Cup, is accused of participating in a hacker network that conducted ransomware attacks against 900 companies, including two US federal institutions. The United States had requested his extradition from Paris to face these charges before American courts.
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A diplomatic exchange after months of negotiations
The exchange materialized after several months of diplomatic negotiations. In late December 2025, Moscow had made a proposal to France regarding this case, suggesting the possibility of a prisoner exchange. The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) confirmed Thursday that Kasatkin had returned to Russia and was « exchanged » for Laurent Vinatier.
A video released by the FSB and Tass agency shows the two men during the exchange: Laurent Vinatier leaving his cell in the snow before boarding a small white plane, from which basketball player Daniil Kasatkin had just disembarked.
🇷🇺🇫🇷 Les autorités russes ont libéré jeudi le chercheur français Laurent Vinatier, emprisonné en Russie depuis juin 2024, en échange de la libération du basketteur russe Daniil Kasatkin, a annoncé le service de sécurité russe (FSB). pic.twitter.com/vsp6kIVTpA
— Agence France-Presse (@afpfr) January 8, 2026
President Emmanuel Macron confirmed on X that « Laurent Vinatier is free and back in France, » expressing his « relief » and « gratitude to our diplomatic agents for their mobilization. » The French researcher, detained since June 2025, had been sentenced to three years in prison for failing to register as a « foreign agent » and also faced espionage charges.
This exchange illustrates the persistent diplomatic tensions between Paris and Moscow since the beginning of the Ukrainian conflict, with both countries now conducting prisoner exchanges similar to those observed during the Cold War.
Daniil Kasatkin
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Sylvain Sultat suit la NBA au quotidien, entre performances individuelles, dynamiques collectives et grandes histoires de la ligue. Sur BeBasket, il décrypte l’actualité américaine avec passion et régularité, toujours à l’affût des tendances qui font bouger le monde du basket.
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