A 26-year-old dual Russian-Ukrainian citizen, suspected of planning violent action in France, was taken into police custody on Monday, June 3, the National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office (PNAT) said on Wednesday, confirming a report published in the newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche. On Tuesday, the PNAT opened an investigation into “terrorist criminal conspiracy,” under the purview of France’s domestic intelligence agency, the General Directorate for Internal Security (DGSI).
The case, which could be the first of its kind in France since the start of the Russian-instigated war in Ukraine, was discovered by chance on Monday evening, after firefighters were called to attend to the man, who was seriously wounded when an explosive device detonated in his hotel room in Roissy-en-France, the town where Paris Charles-de-Gaulle international airport is located. He was initially hospitalized before being questioned while under DGSI custody.
“Initial findings at the scene of the events led to the discovery of products and materials intended for the production of explosive devices. One of these devices had exploded,” the PNAT stated in a press release. According to a source close to the investigation, cell phones used in the creation of improvised explosive devices were found, and tests carried out on the products revealed the presence of ammonium nitrate, which can be used to make homemade bombs.
Russian army fighter
The man, born in the Donbas, a region of Ukraine currently occupied by the Russian army, acquired Russian citizenship a few years ago. He is thought to have fought in the Russian army for two years and recently arrived in France.
As the country observes three days of commemorations for the 80th anniversary of the World War II D-Day landings, set to last until Friday in Normandy – where US President Joe Biden, among others, is expected on Thursday – the discovery of these explosive devices and the suspect’s possible pro-Russian affiliation has led the PNAT to take over an investigation that had initially been opened by the local prosecutor’s office.
The threat of pro-Russian attacks had been anticipated by several European intelligence services, as the Financial Times revealed on May 5. The British newspaper reported that four countries’ services had recently alerted their respective governments to the imminent risk of acts of sabotage directed by Russia, which is thought to have been stepping up its efforts to carry out covert bombings, arson attacks and damage to infrastructure in several European countries.
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