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The French official who was said today by the Minister of the Armed Forces, Florence Parly, was under investigation, was arrested and charged with “spying for the foreign power” on August 21, a judicial source told France-Presse (AFP).
The official was sent abroad, the source confirmed after the information was released by Europe 1 radio.
According to the radio, the officer was at a NATO base in Italy and is suspected of spying for Russia.
The French Armed Forces Minister, interviewed today by Europe 1, CNews television and Les Echos newspaper, said she could confirm that “an officer is being investigated for an attack on national security,” but declined to give details.
According to Europe 1, the officer was charged with treason on suspicion of having handed over documents classified as “highly sensitive information” to the Russian secret services.
The soldier was arrested by the counterintelligence services of the French National Security Directorate General when he was preparing to leave Italy on vacation in France and placed in preventive detention in Paris, also according to the radio.
In a statement, the Parly-led ministry said that “a senior official on a mission abroad” was being investigated “for acts of such a nature that could cause serious security breaches.”
The radio also says that the soldier is a lieutenant colonel, in his 50s and has five children. He speaks Russian and was seen in Italy in the company of a man identified as a Russian military intelligence (GRU) officer.
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