Following the invasion of Ukraine, Russian nationals can no longer visit the Château de Vincennes (Val-de-Marne).
Russian nationals can no longer visit the Château de Vincennes (Val-de-Marne), which also houses the archives of the French Ministry of the Armed Forces, since an internal directive issued following the invasion of Ukraine, learned on Monday AFP from concordant sources. The Château de Vincennes, located south-east of Paris, notably contains one of the centers of the Service Historique de la Défense (SHD), whose libraries and archives are accessible to the public under certain conditions.
On July 30, two Russian women were refused entry. “A guard at the metal detector asked to see my passport,” one of the two young women, 31, told AFP. The guard then refused him access.
“I was upset”
Confused, this Russian tried again to enter, talking with another guard. But it also does not allow him to enter. Asking them about their refusal, the guards finally let go: “Because you are Russian,” she told AFP. “I was overwhelmed,” says the young woman, a journalist by profession, who fled Russia “because of the war” and arrived in France “five months” ago. Questioned by AFP, the Ministry of the Armed Forces explained that it had, “following the invasion of Ukraine”, “restricted access to the military premises of the ministry to Russian nationals”.
He stressed, however, that “requests relating to journalistic duties” could be made. Moscow and kyiv have been at war for more than five months. France crossed the threshold of 100,000 Ukrainian refugees in early August. According to INSEE, 73,500 Russian immigrants lived in France in 2021.