A Russian court is expected to outline fresh espionage charges Monday against a French researcher, already serving a three-year sentence, the latest in a string of Westerners to face decades in prison amid the Ukraine offensive.

Laurent Vinatier, a researcher with a Swiss conflict mediation NGO, was arrested in June 2024 and sentenced for breaching Russia's foreign agents law, in a case decried by Paris as baseless.

A spokesperson for Moscow's Lefortovo court told AFP Vinatier was due in court Monday for a hearing related to espionage, charges which carry a possible 20-year sentence.

He is one of several Westerners arrested amid Russia's all-out military offensive on Ukraine.

France has called for his release and slammed the case as "arbitrary".

Prosecutors have not outlined any detai

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