Plot to attack Euro 2016 soccer championship thwarted, Ukraine says

The Security Service ofUkraine (SBU) says it hadthwarted a plot to attack soccer's European Championship in Franceby arresting a Frenchman attemptingto cross from Ukraine into the European Union via Poland armed to the teeth.

The SBU said in a statement Monday it had been followingthe 25-year-oldsince December,and allowed him to purchaseKalashnikov machine-guns,rocket propelled grenades, 125 kilograms of TNT and other weapons before he was arrested on the border between Ukraine and Poland last month.

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The SBU didn't identify the man, but said he was driven by ultra-nationalist views and that he had spoken out againstFrance's immigration policy,the spread of Islam andglobalization.

The agency said he tried to establish contacts with Ukrainian troops "under the guise of volunteering"while in thatcountry's war-torn eastern region.Ukrainian troops and Russia-backed separatists have been fighting in that region since April2014, killing more than 9,400 people. It was not immediately clear which side of the conflict the French man supports.

"He also said that he wanted to perpetrate acts of terror in protest," the SBU said in a statement.

The suspect planned a series of attacks on bridges, railways, Jewish and Muslim places of worship, French government buildings including tax offices, and buildings connected to the 2016 European Championship, the SBU said.

Itsaid the man tried to take the weapons across the border himself after failing to hire a smuggler.

A video releasedby the SBUpurports to show the suspect loading weapons into a van which, moments later, is swarmed by security personnel. The man's face is blurred in the video and in other images released by the SBU.

A French Foreign Ministry spokesman confirmed a Frenchman hadbeen arrested in Ukraine and said the ministry was in contact with Ukrainian authorities.

French police initially reacted skeptically and said the detained man was not known to either police or intelligence services.

However, another police source close to the case said police had found a T-shirt with a badge carrying the insignia of an extreme right group at the suspect's home, as well as "several substances that could go into the mix of homemade explosives." The source did not elaborate.

'Need to improve'

Extremist attacks are a major concern for French authorities as they prepare to host the month-long tournament at stadiums in the Paris area and eight other cities, running from FridaytoJuly 10. Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) extremists have threatened France during the tournament, but authorities have not confirmed specific dangers.

France is deploying 90,000 security personnel for the tournament, and French President Franois Hollande said Sunday night that the threat of attacks won't stop Euro 2016from being successful.

The deployment which includes at least 10,000 military troops is expected to be especially vigilant around transportation hubs and the Stade de France arena, which holds 80,000 people and was among the sites targeted during the deadly November terrorattacks inParis.

Paris police prefect Michel Cadot said Monday arrangements around Stade de France "need to improve."

Fans have complained that new precautions including a two-metre high wall and triple security checks created severe overcrowding during a match last month. Despite those measures, supporters still managed to smuggle flares into the venue and ignite fires in the stands.

A state of emergencyis still in place across France following the November attacks, which killed 130 people.