(JTA) — Ukraine’s State Security Service said it has arrested a Frenchman who planned to carry out terrorist attacks, including on a synagogue, during the Euro 2016 soccer championships in Paris.
The man, 25, was arrested in late May on the country’s border with Poland and was heavily armed, according to the announcement Monday by the Ukrainian intelligence agency, known as the SBU.
The security service had been monitoring the man since December and had him under surveillance when he bought five machine guns, two rocket-propelled grenades and other weapons, according to reports.
He reportedly had planned 15 attacks on bridges and other infrastructure, as well as Jewish and Muslim houses of worship in France, which is hosting the games in Paris and eight other French cities for a month beginning Friday.
“The Frenchman spoke negatively about his government’s migration policies, the spread of Islam and globalization,” the SBU said in a statement. “He also said that he wanted to perpetrate acts of terror in protest.”
Some 9,000 police and security personnel will guard the Euro 2016 venues.
The arrest comes in the wake of a series of attacks on sites in Paris on Nov. 13, 2015, that left 130 dead.
