A basketball player released from a French prison became a player for Krasnoyarsk “Yenisei”

A new player has appeared in the Krasnoyarsk basketball team “Yenisei” – 26-year-old Russian forward Daniil Kasatkin. The contract with him was signed until the end of the 2026/27 season, the club’s press service reports.

Daniil is a graduate of the CSKA system, where he began his career in youth teams. In 2015, he moved to Dynamo, representing Dynamo-Youth Moscow in the Children's and Youth Basketball League. Later he lived in the USA for some time, playing for the Mountain Mission high school team (Grundy, Virginia). He attended Penn State University on an athletic scholarship in 2018 and represented the Penn State Nittany Lions in NCAA Division I during the 2018-19 season. Returning to Russia in 2019, Daniil became a Khimki player, playing for the Khimki-Podmoskovye farm club for two seasons. He started the 2021/2022 season as part of the MBA. In 2023 and 2025, he twice became the bronze medalist of the Russian Cup. In the 2024/2025 season, he averaged 6 points, 2.1 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 0.4 steals per 18 minutes on the court. Kasatkin was also involved in Russian youth teams, with which he took part in international tournaments.

According to TASS, on June 21, 2025, Daniil Kasatkin was detained at Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airport at the request of the United States, which suspects him of complicity in the activities of a hacker network that uses ransomware against American companies and federal institutions. The Investigative Chamber of the Court of Appeal, having considered the lawyer's request for release on July 9, decided to take the athlete into custody, despite such guarantees as ensuring residence in France and bail. On October 29, the Paris Court of Appeal approved the request of the US authorities to extradite Kasatkin. On January 8, the Federal Security Service announced the exchange of Kasatkin for Frenchman Laurent Vinatier, previously convicted in Russia (recognized as a foreign agent in the Russian Federation). Returning to Russia after being detained in France, Daniil Kasatkin signed a contract with the Krasnoyarsk basketball club “Yenisei”.

“I am glad that we will cooperate. Daniil is in the best years of his career and can help the team a lot. We understand that he will need time to adapt after a difficult period, and we will gradually increase the load. I am sure that signing a contract with him is an excellent decision for both parties,” commented the head coach of the Krasnoyarsk club Jovica Arsic.

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