A chef with experience in restaurants and reality TV shows, he was arrested in Paris on Sunday and subsequently taken into custody after being accused by the French prosecutor's office of ‘transmitting information to a foreign power to incite a foreign power to commit espionage’.

The man was arrested on Sunday in Paris and subsequently taken into custody after being charged by French prosecutors with ‘transmitting information to a foreign power to stir up hostilities in France’, an offence punishable by up to 30 years in prison.

‘We firmly believe that he was going to organise operations of destabilisation, interference, espionage,’ French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told BFM television on Wednesday.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov criticised the failure to provide information: ‘Our embassy in Paris should have been informed of the arrest. We expect the information to be provided to them’. He described media reports on the case as ‘rather curious’. 

Le Monde newspaper said police had found documents ‘of diplomatic interest’ in his flat and that he was suspected of working for Russia's FSB internal intelligence service following his appearances on reality shows and a stint as a chef at a French ski resort.

Le Monde and other media outlets named the suspect as Kirill Gryaznov, a chef originally from the Ural city of Perm. They listed him as a student working in Courchevel, a ski resort popular with Russians, according to French media and the Russian-language investigative website The Insider.

In Russia he took part in cooking shows and a ‘Bachelor’-style reality TV show called ‘Choose Me’ in 2019, but had problems with alcohol and finances, reported The Insider, which also claims that the detainee described himself as a Russian government worker and had contacts with the security services. This was also allegedly told in a restaurant, where he spoke of being on a secret mission related to the Olympics and claimed that the French would have an opening ceremony "like they've never had".

Paris prosecutors opened an investigation on Friday into an alleged attempt to undermine ‘fundamental national interests’ after rail sabotage paralysed France's high-speed train network hours before the opening ceremony of the Olympics.

Russia in focus

Relations between France and Russia have been deteriorating for months due to the bloodshed in Ukraine. President Emmanuel Macron is a prominent critic of Vladimir Putin's invasion and a strong supporter of the Ukrainian government. Now, it remains to be seen how the Games will unfold in a tense atmosphere between certain European countries.

Almost all Russian athletes have been excluded from the Paris Olympics because of the Kremlin's offensive in Ukraine, and only 15 will compete as neutrals after expressly rejecting the war in Ukraine, contacts with the army and without those medals counting for their country.

Adding to this chaotic episode, last month, Microsoft claimed that Russia was attempting to undermine the Olympic Games by creating fake websites that sought to mimic seemingly authentic French media and digital newspapers using artificial intelligence, thereby fueling concerns about violence and terrorism at the world's most-watched sporting event.