PARIS – For the second time in as many days, French security forces paralyzed vital infrastructure on Monday, while The Olympics will be held in Paris.
Police said fiber optic cables used by major telecommunications companies were found cut in several parts of France. French prosecutors said anti-terrorism police had joined the investigation. Police said the incident affected traditional telephone and mobile phone data services but did not directly affect the Paris area.
France’s digital minister, Marina Ferrari, called it a “cowardly and irresponsible act.”
Authorities said they were investigating possible involvement of far-left groups in a separate incident that occurred just hours before the Olympic opening ceremony on Friday, in which three different Railway FacilitiesAttacks also occurred at a station outside Paris, causing widespread delays on France’s high-speed rail network.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told French media on Monday that authorities had “identified” a possible assailant among left-wing activists. The 28-year-old suspect was arrested on Sunday and was being questioned in the northern Normandy city of Rouen. No other details were released.
2024 Olympic Medals: Who is leading the medal count? Let’s track the medals in each sport to find out.
It was not clear whether investigators believe the two incidents – Friday’s train attack and the cutting of fiber optic cables on Sunday night – are linked. Darmanin told France 2 television that the attacks on rail facilities were very similar to attacks on rail infrastructure carried out by far-left movements in France last year.
“Malicious conduct”:French rail network hit by ‘massive attack’ before Olympics opening ceremony
Paris police chief Laurent Nunez spoke briefly about security concerns on Monday as he met with reporters outside a stadium in the south of Paris where Olympic table tennis, volleyball, handball and weightlifting events were being held.
But he offered no new insight into either investigation. In response to questions from USA Today, Nunez’s media representative later said in a WhatsApp message that the head of Paris police had nothing to say about the intercepted cables because it was outside his jurisdiction.
As the Olympics enter their first week, France is on its highest threat alert level, with cities effectively transformed into landscapes of metal security barriers and QR codes tightly restricting who can go where.
Up to 45,000 uniformed police and 10,000 soldiers form a vast security network, and security officials and experts say there may be an equal or even larger number of plainclothes officers secretly patrolling Paris’ streets.
“Crazy idea”:How Paris secured the Olympic opening ceremony
Sophisticated AI-enabled camera They are installed at all Olympic venues and can scan for irregularities in crowd movement, fires and other hazards.
Nuñez said he was concerned about terrorist threats, particularly Islamic terrorism, in the run up to the Olympics, but also “low-intensity threats” from radical environmentalists, left-wing extremists, pro-Palestinian movements and even forces with ties to Russia who seek to sow fear and chaos.
According to a joint investigation, France’s Le Monde and Germany’s Der SpiegelAccording to the weekly magazine Russian Cuisine, one such Russian was Kirill Griaznov (40), a chef who trained at Le Cordon Bleu.
Citing French investigators and Griaznov’s own emails, the media outlets said Griaznov had been living legally in France for more than 10 years before his arrest on July 19 for possession of incriminating “diplomatic documents.”
Defend Paris:Police snipers and AI cameras will monitor the Olympics
Before becoming a haute culinary expert, Griaznov was a bespectacled lawyer who French prosecutors allege also worked for Russia’s domestic security service, the FSB, according to Le Monde and Der Spiegel.
He was arrested and charged with plotting “large-scale” destabilization at Friday’s Olympic opening ceremony, at the direction of the Kremlin’s intelligence services. French authorities have not said what the “destabilization” entailed, other than that it could have had “serious consequences.”
The outlet said France has uncovered other alleged Russian plots related to the Olympics in recent months, including a plan to line up coffins draped with the French flag and bearing the words “French Soldiers of Ukraine” in front of the Eiffel Tower — an apparent reference to suggestions by French President Emmanuel Macron that French troops might be sent to Ukraine in the future to protect the country from an unprovoked war by Russia.
Gryaznov denies any wrongdoing and faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the incident “very interesting.”
According to phone intercepts seen by Le Monde and Der Spiegel, the former Russian reality TV star revealed his true identity after being removed from a flight from Istanbul to Paris. Stranded in Bulgaria, in a drunken phone call to his Russian counterpart, he boasted that Paris would hold an “opening ceremony like no other before.”
According to an investigation by Le Monde and Der Spiegel, Griaznov was on holiday in the Black Sea when he got drunk at a seaside restaurant and let slip that he had a special mission in Paris this summer.
The USA TODAY app gives you instant access to the core news. download Award-winning articles, crosswords, audio storytelling, e-newspaper and more.
Follow Kim Hjelmgaard on social media translation:
