A 26-year-old Russian-Ukrainian was arrested on Wednesday June 5 after injuring himself with an explosive device. He is suspected of having planned violent action. The anti-terrorism prosecution took up the facts and opened an investigation into the suspect who appears to be wearing a “ pro-Russian commitment “.
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The man, who has Russian and Ukrainian passports, was taken into police custody Monday evening in the premises of the DGSI, said a source close to the case. He had first, in the same evening, been taken care of by the firefighters, because he presented “ severe burns following an explosion », Explained the national anti-terrorism prosecution (Pnat), which confirmed information from the JDD.
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Arrived ” recently » in France according to a source close to the investigation, he had a hotel room in his name in Roissy-en-France, the city where the Roissy-Charles de Gaulle international airport is located, according to two sources close to the case. In this room, investigators found “ products and materials intended for the manufacture of explosive devices », added the Pnat. “ One of these devices had exploded “. The young man was injured in the head, said one of the sources close to the case.
On Tuesday, the anti-terrorism prosecution took up the facts and opened an investigation into suspicions of planned violent action. More precisely, the Pnat retained the charges of “participation in a criminal terrorist association”, as well as “possession of explosives or substances intended to compose an explosive, in relation to a terrorist enterprise”.
Originally from Donbass
The first elements of the investigation motivated this referral. “ Originally from Donbass “, the suspect appears to be wearing a ” pro-Russian commitment “, after having ” fought for two years in the Russian army », Indicated the source close to the investigation to AFP.
Furthermore, the organization of the ceremonies of 80th anniversary of the Normandy landings“ with the presence of numerous foreign presences » in the country, was one of the factors motivating the opening of anti-terrorism investigations, according to this close source. None of the sources interviewed were able, at this stage, to specify whether the suspect is accused of having acted alone or if he is suspected of having accomplices.
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At the end of May, before this arrest, the Ministry of the Interior had reported 50 attacks foiled by the French intelligence services since 2017. The latest foiled attack plan, which the press reported on May 31 , would be of Islamist inspiration: an 18-year-old Chechen, unknown to the intelligence services, was indicted and imprisoned on May 26 for having planned to commit an attack targeting the football events of the Olympic Games in Saint-Etienne.