Ukraine arrests Frenchman suspected of plotting attacks on Euro 2016

Members of Ukraine's state security service detain a French citizen who had been planning attacks in France to coincide with the Euro 2016 football championship it is hosting, on the Ukrainian-Polish border in Volyn region, Ukraine, in this undated photo released by Ukraine's state security service on June 6, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

KIEV - Ukraine's state security service said on Monday that it have arrested a French citizen suspected of planning terror attacks to coincide with the Euro 2016 European Football Championship.

"The Frenchman spoke negatively about his government's actions relating to the mass migration of foreigners and the spread of Islam. He disclosed a plan to commit a series of terrorist attacks as a mark of protest," head of Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) Vasyl Grytsak told reporters during a media briefing.

According to him, the detained man was plotting a total of 15 attacks in France targeting Muslim and Jewish houses of worship, bridges, highways, a tax collecting office and buildings of public institutions involved in the organization of Euro 2016.

He was detained on May 21 during an attempt to cross the Ukrainian-Polish border, Grytsak said, without giving details on the name or the age of the suspect.

The head of the SBU said that the suspect travelled to Ukraine with an aim to buy weapons from the armed groups, which are involved in the confrontation in eastern regions.

According to the preliminary investigation, the suspect had at his disposal some 125 kilograms of explosives, 5 Kalashnikov assault rifles, more than 5,000 rounds of ammunition and other weapons, Grytsak said.

The Euro 2016 tournament will be staged in France from June 10 to July 10.