Journalistic investigation: who is he, the Russian arrested in France – an FSB officer or a boastful alcoholic (video)

Kirill Gryaznov, a 40-year-old Russian who worked as a cook in France, was arrested on suspicion of preparing provocations at the Paris Olympics. The BBC reports on what leading publications The Insider, Spiegel and Le Monde managed to find out about this man after conducting a journalistic investigation.

Journalists have found out that Gryaznov, who previously appeared on shows on NTV and Domashny, is connected to FSB and GRU officers. He revealed the purpose of his trip to Paris in a drunken conversation. Now he faces up to 30 years in prison for espionage, writes “Jellyfish”.

Kirill Gryaznov attracted the attention of the intelligence services in May 2024 — “alcohol let him down,” the investigation says. On May 7, the man was planning to fly from the Russian capital to Paris with a transfer in Istanbul. But in Turkey, he got so drunk that he was not allowed on the plane and was blacklisted. He drove to Bulgaria, where he drank again in a restaurant and began telling random people that he was going to Paris on a secret mission from the Russian special services.

According to witnesses, Gryaznov threatened that France would “remember these Olympics for a long time,” without, however, specifying what he meant. He showed his interlocutors some kind of ID to prove that he worked for the secret services, and also called someone in their presence and reported that he had hired a person from Chisinau for the task.

French law enforcement officers arrested Gryaznov on July 21 at his apartment on Rue Saint-Denis in central Paris. He was charged with “intelligence activities” in the interests of a foreign state with the aim of “inciting hostilities in France.” Gryaznov faces up to 30 years in prison. While he is in pretrial detention, writes Air Force.

What kind of provocations Gryaznov was planning to organize during the Paris Olympics was not publicly reported. Le Parisien sources said that it was a “large-scale project” whose consequences could be “serious.”

According to the Paris prosecutor's office, some “diplomatic materials” and an ID were found on the Russian during his arrest.indicating affiliation with the “V unit” of the Russian special services. The Insider believes that this could be an FSB special forces “Vympel” ID:

“But Gryaznov, with his background, could not have served there, and it is impossible to imagine that Vympel employees would take their service ID with them.”

Gryaznov was born in 1984 in Perm, the son of the head doctor of a local hospital. He studied law at Perm State University, then moved to Moscow. According to Le Monde, he worked in financial companies, and in 2010 he moved to France, suddenly deciding to change his profession and become a chef. He took culinary courses at Le Cordon Bleu Paris and from November 2011 to March 2012 worked at a Michelin-starred restaurant in Courchevel.

However, in September 2012, Gryaznov told the owner of the apartment he was renting in Paris that he had returned to Moscow: he was “working for the state” and promised to come to France if possible and pay her back “what he owed.” The authors of the investigation were unable to find any evidence that Gryaznov worked for any state companies or organizations.The Insider notes.

In Russia, Gryaznov continues to work as a chef. He has occasionally appeared in various shows on Russian TV channels. On his Instagram, he emphasized his participation in the renovation show “Dachny Otvet” on the NTV channel, where he appeared in the culinary section. In 2015, Gryaznov starred in the first season of the show “Vyberemenya” on the Domashny TV channel, where single men choose a bride from among six girls every week. In the first episode of the show, he was introduced as follows:

“Meet this week's top prize, Kirill Gryaznov, a successful businessman and restaurateur. He has everything except his beloved woman. He intends to open “at least” three restaurants, including one in Moscow City.”

The Insider, which gained access to the chef’s correspondence, describes him as follows:

“The real picture of his personal life remains behind the scenes: a series of scandals, suspicions, hidden camera recordings and ugly breakups, accompanied by the most humiliating insults. However, he is neither a “restaurateur” nor a “successful businessman” – successful periods are followed by unsuccessful ones, overdue debts and problems with alcohol interfere with his career as a chef. At one of these moments in 2013, one of the girls who dumped him, out of pity, even offered to send money to the broke Gryaznov for a phone bill.”

Journalists also concluded from his correspondence with friends. In 2009, the secretary of the director of the Ken-Group company, Yulia Pastukhova, sends Gryaznov the registration card of the director's son, Major Andrei Belyashov, a senior officer of the Main Directorate of Personnel of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. In 2010, Perm businessman Anton Mikhailov asks Gryaznov to “check” FSB officer Eduard Kolyvanov and sends him his data. “You will be able to find out carefully what kind of person he is and whether you can trust him,” the businessman explains his request.

Gryaznov may owe his connections to his brother Dmitry, who holds the position of head of the Main Directorate for Legal Support of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union State of Russia and Belarus. The Insider claims:

“Few people understand what this strange integration association is doing, but among its functionaries there are many employees of the special services.”

Dmitry Gryaznov often flies on joint flights with his colleague Andrey Chekanov, who heads the apparatus of the leadership of the parliamentary assembly of the Union State. They also have a common driver. Chekanov, in turn, is registered at 36 Sorge Street in Moscow. One of the suspects in the attempted assassination of the Skripals, the alleged GRU officer “Sergey Fedotov” (aka Denis Sergeev) and the spouses Sergey Skvortsov and Elena Kulkova, detained in Sweden on suspicion of spying for the Russian special services, also received an apartment there.

Besides Kirill Gryaznoy's connection with Russian special services is indicated by the fact that in 2019 he flew from Perm to Moscow on a ticket bought for him by the former chief inspector of the FSB control service, Vladimir Bondarchuk.

According to Le Monde, after calling “his boss in Russian intelligence” from Bulgaria, Kirill said that in Paris “the French are planning to hold such an opening ceremony [Олимпийских игр]the likes of which they had never seen before.”FSB officer boasted that he could disrupt the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games“before he was arrested on July 21,” is how the French newspaper interprets his words.

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