France detains Ukrainian-Russian man suspected of planning violent act

French security forces take part in a simulation against terrorist attacks on the Olympic site of Vaires-sur-Marnes on May 30 2024. (AFP)
Updated 06 June 2024
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France detains Ukrainian-Russian man suspected of planning violent act

  • Security forces seized the suspect after he injured himself apparently while making a bomb
  • “Products and materials intended to manufacture explosive devices” have been found at his hotel room, said prosecutors

PARIS: France’s domestic intelligence agency has detained a 26-year-old Russian-Ukrainian man on suspicion of planning a violent act after he injured himself in an explosion, prosecutors said on Wednesday.

The man was treated by a fire brigade on Monday evening “when he suffered serious burns following an explosion,” said the National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office (PNAT).
“Products and materials intended to manufacture explosive devices” have been found at his hotel room, the PNAT said.
According to two sources close to the case, the man stayed at a hotel in the town of Roissy-en-France, home to Paris Charles de Gaulle airport.
“One of these devices had exploded,” the prosecutors said. The man suffered head injuries, according to one of the sources.
The man, who has both Russian and Ukrainian passports, was detained on Monday evening, a source said.
On Tuesday, the prosecutor’s office opened an investigation into suspected plans to commit a violent act.
A source, asking not to be named, told AFP that the man was from the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, part of which has been occupied by pro-Russian and Russian forces since 2014.
He appeared to have a “pro-Russian attitude” after fighting “for two years for the Russian army,” added the source.

In an indication of the seriousness of the case, the man is being held by France’s domestic intelligence agency General Directorate for Internal Security (DGSI) rather than the regular police.
It is not clear at this stage if the man is suspected of acting alone or in a group.
The case has also been immediately placed in the hands of the specialist anti-terror prosecutors rather than criminal prosecutors.
The PNAT has opened an investigation into suspected involvement in a terrorist plot as well as possession of explosives and substances that can be used to make an explosive.
France has raised its security alert to the highest level in the run-up to the Olympic Games in Paris, which run from July 26 to August 11.
This week France is hosting high-profile commemorations of the 80th anniversary of D-Day in Normandy.
US President Joe Biden, Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine and other leaders are expected to attend the main event on Thursday.
The presence of so many foreign leaders in France was one reason why the case has been handed to the anti-terror prosecutors, a source said.
Paris has indicated that President Emmanuel Macron is also seeking to ramp up support for Ukraine, including military backing — moves that have angered Moscow.
French security services have arrested a Chechen teenager suspected of plotting an “Islamist-inspired” attack on a football game during the Paris Olympic Games, the interior ministry said last month.
At the end of May, before this arrest, the interior ministry said 50 attacks were foiled by French intelligence services since 2017.
 


UK to double troops in Norway to defend against ‘rising’ Russian threat

Updated 4 sec ago
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UK to double troops in Norway to defend against ‘rising’ Russian threat

  • Healey is set to confirm on a visit to a UK military site in northern Norway that British forces

LONDON: Britain announced Wednesday it will boost its troops stationed in Norway and play a “vital” role in a NATO Arctic mission in face of “rising Russian threats.”
The UK’s decision to double its troops in Norway from 1,000 to 2,000 in the next three years comes as the US was set to relinquish two top regional NATO command posts to press allies to take greater responsibility for their defense.
“Arctic and High North security will be strengthened against rising Russian threats as Britain steps up its presence in the region,” the UK Ministry of Defense said in a statement.
Defense Secretary John Healey is set to confirm on a visit to a UK military site in northern Norway that British forces will be involved in NATO’s Arctic Sentry mission to bolster security in the region.
European members of the transatlantic alliance have scrambled to boost defenses in the region after US President Donald Trump used alleged threats from Russia and China to justify his repeated threats to seize Greenland.
“Demands on defense are rising, and Russia poses the greatest threat to Arctic and High North security that we have seen since the Cold War,” Healey said in a statement.
Diplomats confirmed over the weekend that Washington would hand over leadership of its Norfolk command, focusing on the alliance’s north, to Britain.
The UK and Norway last December signed a new defense pact that would see their navies jointly operate a warship fleet to “hunt Russian submarines” in the North Atlantic.
That agreement aimed to protect critical undersea infrastructure such as communications cables, which Western officials say are increasingly under threat from Moscow.
Oslo also announced last year the purchase of at least five Type-26 frigates from Britain for £10 billion ($13 billion).
In 2023, the UK opened a new military base called Camp Viking in the far north of Norway, which serves as a hub for Britain’s Royal Marines.
Britain is planning to lead a Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) of northern European and Baltic nations in “major military activity” in September.
The exercise called “Lion Protector” will see “air, land, and naval forces from JEF nations train to protect critical national infrastructure from attacks and sabotage.”
A cross-party delegation of United States senators visited Greenland on Monday to “rebuild the trust” shattered by Trump’s threats to annex the Danish territory, the lawmakers said.