Russia has claimed it arrested a French foreign agent in Moscow on Thursday on suspicion of gathering information about the activities of the country’s military.

A criminal case has been launched against the unnamed Frenchman, who was seen being loaded into the back of a van by masked officers, for violating Russia’s law that labels many foreign workers as agents and restricts their activities.

Russia’s investigative committee said the man was involved in the “targeted collection of information in the field of military [and] military-technical activities of the Russian Federation”.

“Such information, if obtained by foreign sources, may be used against the security of the state,” it added.

According to the committee, the man had repeatedly visited Russia for several years and held meetings with Russian citizens.

The man could face up to five years in prison. The French Foreign Ministry in Paris is yet to comment. 

It comes as French authorities accused an ex-Russian soldier of plotting a bomb attack on Western weapons suppliers in France.

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