You're reading: Ukrainian security service says it foiled 15 terrorist attacks in France

Ukraine’s SBU security service has thwarted at least 15 planned terrorist attacks targeting the upcoming UEFA Euro 2016 European soccer championship in France, the service’s head, Vasyl Hrytsak, said on June 6.

Hrytsak
told journalists at a press conference in Kyiv that the SBU detained and
arrested a member of a French terrorist group late in May, after a six-month-long
special operation. He said the SBU detained the suspect at a customs checkpoint
in Yahodyn, a town near the Ukrainian-Polish border in Volyn Oblast 500
kilometers southwest from Kyiv. The suspect was attempting to smuggle a large
amount of weapons across the border, Hrytsak said.

The suspect
had five Kalashnikov rifles, more than 5,000 bullets, two grenade launchers,
125 kilograms of TNT, and 20 balaclavas.

“We didn’t
plan to publish this information, but since it appeared in the foreign media,
we decided to reveal more of it,” Hrytsak said.
M6, a popular French television channel, broke the story on June 3.

In a note, released on June 6, Julie Fort, the first secretary with the French Embassy in Ukraine, confirmed the arrest of a French citizen, adding that French government is “in contact with the Ukrainian authorities about it.”

Hrytsak
said that the SBU discovered in December 2015 that the detained suspect, a French
man, had come to Ukraine as a volunteer. He contacted with Ukrainian soldiers in
the country’s east, promising to bring them humanitarian aid and military
equipment.

However, he
soon switched to asking whether he could buy any weapons in Ukraine.

“The French
man criticized his government’s actions regarding mass emigration, the spread
of Islam and globalization,” Hrytsak told the reporters. “He also said he wanted
to commit a series of terrorist attacks as a sign of protest.”

According
to Hrytsak, the group of SBU officers involved in the special operation helped
the man buy weapons and obtain a permit to cross the border. Hrytsak said the
SBU had followed the law scrupulously and documented their every action.

As soon as the
suspect tried to leave the country, he was stopped and arrested.

“I don’t
think I need to explain what damage could have been caused by 125 kilograms of
TNT,” Hrytsak said.

Hrytsak
added that the targets of the planned terrorist attacks would have been, along
with the soccer championship, a mosque, a synagogue, a tax collecting
institution, and checkpoints on French highways.

The SBU said
the detained man was suspected of the crimes of smuggling, preparing terrorist
attacks, and illegally obtaining weapons.

“I hope
this special operation will assuage the skepticism of those who talk about the
ineffectiveness of the Ukrainian special services,” Hrytsak said.

Kyiv Post staff writer Alyona Zhuk can be
reached at [email protected]