A former Russian reality TV chef and suspected spy has been arrested in France after drunkenly boasting about plans to cause mayhem at the Paris Olympics.
Kirill Gryaznov, 40, was arrested at his Paris apartment on Sunday after European intelligence agencies had been monitoring his movements for several months, French newspapers reported. Le Monde.
French police said they had searched the apartment of the self-proclaimed private chef at the request of the French Ministry of the Interior and found “diplomatic materials” suggesting he had ties to Russia’s domestic intelligence service, the Federal Security Service (FSB).
According to French media, investigators found evidence of a “large-scale project” suggesting that Gryaznov was “preparing a pro-Russian operation to destabilize France” during the Olympics.
Gryaznov was charged on Tuesday with “providing information to foreign forces with the aim of inciting hostilities on French soil”, which could carry a prison sentence of up to 30 years, the media reported.
European intelligence agencies had been tracking him since May and had begun closely monitoring his movements.
In May, the suspected spy was denied boarding a flight returning to Paris from Istanbul, Turkey, after having too much to drink.
He was then forced to catch another flight out of Bulgaria, but before doing so he stopped off at a restaurant, from where he called his intelligence contact in Moscow, the media said.
According to documents obtained by the media, just two months before the opening of the Paris Olympics, Gryaznov drunkenly bragged to his manager in a phone call that “France will have a different opening ceremony than before.”
Witnesses also claimed the man was drunk, brandished his FSB identification card during a pit stop and told neighbours he had a special mission to disrupt the Olympics.
This allowed European security agencies to determine the exact route he took to France and revealed his long-standing and close ties to Russian intelligence.
Before moving to the French capital, Gryaznov earned a law degree from Russia’s Perm State University and then appeared on “The Bachelor”-style show “Choose Me,” in which he portrayed himself as a “successful businessman and restaurateur.”
This has given the suspected spy something of a celebrity status in Russia.
The suspected spy Instagram We can see that he has over 100,000 followers.
At the time of his arrest, Gryaznov had reportedly been living in France for 14 years.
According to Le Monde, he trained as a chef at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, one of the world’s most prestigious culinary schools, in 2010 and has also appeared on reality cooking shows.
The following year, he became chef at a Michelin-starred restaurant in a luxury hotel in Courchevel, a ski resort in the Alps popular with Russian oligarchs.
In 2012, the suspected secret agent told his homeowner he was returning to Russia to work for the Russian government. Joint Probe Articles by Le Monde, German media outlet Der Spiegel and The Insider.
But Gryaznov returned to France in 2013 to take part in Civics Day, a mandatory integration step for those hoping to obtain citizenship.
According to the emails, he had a career in finance at two Luxembourg-based companies, where he also allegedly received classified military documents relating to Major Andrei Belyashov, a veteran of the Chechen wars.
At the time, the young lawyer frequently received requests to review the profiles of Russian intelligence agents.
According to the report, Gryaznov received an email in 2010 asking him to verify information about a “senior economic security official” and a few days later sent a response to a senior officer in Russia’s military intelligence agency, the GRU, with a photo of the person in question.
Gryaznov described himself as a “personal chef” in his resume but made no mention of any ties to the Russian government.
French Interior Minister Gerard Darmanin said authorities had tested more than one million people ahead of the Olympics, which start on Friday.
More than 5,000 people have already been banned from taking part in the Olympics, says Darmanin Revealed Tuesday.
“Of these, 1,000 are suspected of foreign interference, meaning espionage,” Darmanin said.
“We have an obligation to guarantee this safety to the whole world,” Darmanin said.
“Any threat to our country is a threat to the West.”
