MOSCOW/PARIS (Reuters) -A French citizen who illegally crossed the Russian border on a paddle board from Estonia has been placed in detention for two months, a court in Russia’s northern Leningrad region said.
The man, who paddled from Estonia, was detained on the shore of the Narva Reservoir – through which the Russian-Estonian border runs – by Federal Security Service border guards.
According to the Leningrad court, the French man said he wanted to settle in Russia. The man said he had previously undergone psychiatric treatment, according to the court.
A French diplomatic source said France’s consulate in the northern Russian city of St. Petersburg had contacted Russian authorities to ensure the citizen received protection under the Vienna Convention.
“The French authorities are fully mobilised to provide all necessary assistance to our national,” said the source, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Reuters was unable to contact the French citizen or his lawyers.
(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge in Moscow and Elizabeth Pineau in Paris; Editing by Jamie Freed and Aidan Lewis)
