Russian citizens can no longer visit the Chateau de Vincennes near Paris, which houses the archives of the French Defense Ministry, under an internal directive issued after the invasion of Ukraine, sources told AFP on Monday.

The Château de Vincennes, located southeast of Paris, houses one of the centers of the Historical Service of the French Defense (SHD), whose libraries and archives are open to the public under certain conditions.

On July 28, two Russian women were not allowed. “The guard at the metal detector asked me to show my passport,” one of the 31-year-old Russian women told AFP.

Then the guard denied him access.

The confused Russian woman tried to enter again, talking to another guard. But he didn’t let him either. When asked why they refused, the guards finally said: “Because you are Russian,” she told AFP.

“I was angry,” said the young woman, a journalist by profession, who fled Russia “because of the war” and arrived in France “five months ago.”

When asked by AFP, the Ministry of Defense explained that “after the invasion of Ukraine” it “restricted the access of Russian citizens to the Ministry’s military facilities.”

However, he emphasized that “inquiries for journalistic reasons” can be made.

Moscow and Kyiv have been fighting for more than five months.

At the beginning of August, France exceeded the mark of 100,000 Ukrainian refugees.

According to the national statistical institute Insee, in 2021, 73,500 Russian immigrants lived in France.

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