France and Russia conducted a prisoner swap where France released Daniil Kasatkin, a basketball player accused of aiding ransomware negotiations for a major cybercrime gang affecting 900 victims including two US federal departments, in exchange for French conflict researcher Laurent Vinatier who was imprisoned in Russia for failing to register as a foreign agent. Kasatkin denied all allegations, claiming he unknowingly bought a used computer. This exchange follows Russia's pattern of prisoner diplomacy under Putin, including a major Cold War-era scale swap in August 2024 involving cybercriminals.
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