Fears are growing that Moscow may be behind a ‘massive arson attack’ that has caused chaos on France’s rail network after a suspected Russian spy was arrested earlier this week.
Kirill Gryaznov, 40, was arrested on Wednesday and charged with working ‘with a foreign power to try and provoke hostilities in France’ after being identified as working for the FSB, Vladimir Putin’s domestic intelligence agency.
Gryaznov – who denies wrongdoing – is said to have boasted about turning the start of the Paris Olympics into an ‘opening ceremony like no other’.
Last night, just a few hours before the opening ceremony on the River Seine, a fire broke out in the main installation, bringing the train to a standstill and affecting around 800,000 passengers.
Eurostar advised passengers not to travel today after train services between London and Paris were disrupted by acts of vandalism, the BBC has reported, with some trains canceled and others diverted.
The disruption comes just hours before the opening of the 2024 Paris Olympics – with many opening ceremony ticket holders desperate to catch tonight’s show.
It warned back in April that Moscow had made ‘thousands’ of attempts to disrupt Europe’s rail network in a campaign to undermine EU infrastructure and sabotage it.
It comes after a 40-year-old man was accused of working ‘with a foreign power to try and provoke hostilities in France’ earlier this week. Kirill Gryaznov – who denies wrongdoing – has been identified as working for the FSB, the domestic intelligence agency of Russia’s Federal Security Service.
A few hours before the grand opening ceremony, tourists were stranded at the Gare du Nord train station in Paris
Passengers queue at the Eurostar terminal at St Pancras station in central London
Tourists sit on the steps of the Gare de Montparnasse, at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Friday, July 26, 2024
Passengers gather around the departure area of ​​Gare Montparnasse train station in Paris on July 26, 2024 as France’s high-speed rail network was hit by a malfunction that disrupted the transport system hours before the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Passengers queue at the Eurostar terminal at St Pancras station in central London. French rail officials said some lines had been hit by “bad behavior” that disrupted services ahead of the Olympics.
The claim was made by the Czech Republic’s transport minister Martin Kupka, who told the FT that ‘thousands of attempts to undermine our system’ have been made since Putin ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
While there has been no claim of responsibility and French authorities have not yet named a suspect, there is a clear connection between the targeted attack and the current Olympics.
Pictures show chaos at train stations in Paris, as well as travelers hoping to get to the French capital from London stranded at St Pancras.
Gare du Nord – the main Eurostar station in Paris – was hit by an attack on the rail network overnight, according to a spokesman for SNCF, the French rail operator.
This led to the cancellation of several services, including those intended to bring sports fans from London to the French capital.
“Many stations are affected, including the Garde du Nord, with services across France canceled or delayed,” he said.
Thousands of people from England will travel to Paris by train today, for the start of the Olympics.
There were several ‘coordinated malicious acts’ said Transport Minister Patrice Vergriete, referring to several fires.
They focus on the TGV high-speed train network that covers the whole of France, and which is especially busy at this time of the year.
Beyond the Olympics, Mr. Vergriete said ‘the criminal act will compromise the departure of many French people on holiday.’
The fire was first detected on Friday morning near the track in Courtalain, in the department of Eure-et-Loir.
This caused traffic disruptions on the very busy Atlantique high speed line.
SNCF also cited ‘bad behavior’ on the high-speed line between Lille and Paris, in the northern Arras sector.
People walk in front of the Olympic village canteen at the Paris 2024 Olympic Athletes’ Village in Saint Denis, France, on Tuesday. The Summer Olympics are scheduled to be held from July 26 to August 11, 2024 in Paris
The Inoui and Ouigo TGV trains were diverted to conventional lines, resulting in cancellations and longer journey times.
People built in the main stations of Paris such as Montparnasse, where trains to and from nearby cities such as Tours and Le Mans were all canceled.
A spokesman for the SNCF said it was the victim of a ‘massive arson attack to paralyze the TGV network’.
He said the outage should last “at least the whole weekend”, and that it would have an effect on the network.
A criminal investigation will be opened into the attack, but there are no preliminary theories as to who was behind it.
Olympic organizers have long feared acts of sabotage ruining the multi-billion pound games, and a massive ÂŁ350 million security operation has been launched in Paris to try and counter the threat.
The largest peacekeeping deployment in French history includes some 75,000 soldiers, police and private security agents.
“We are focused and we are ready,” said General Lionel Catar, one of the military planners before the opening of the showpiece.
The priority is to protect about 80,000 competitors as they go down the Seine River in dozens of barges, in front of about 350,000 spectators, and a TV audience of more than a billion.
GĂ©rald Darmanin, the French Interior Ministry, said the ‘terrorist threat remains high’ and a ‘high level of vigilance’ remains essential.
Yesterday, Israel’s Foreign Minister, Israel Katz, alerted the French foreign minister to a potential terror threat in a diplomatic note on Thursday, expressing fears that Iran could target Israel during the Olympics.
French police patrol amid preparations for the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics, in Paris, France, July 24, 2024
France has been on high alert for the past few weeks as preparations to host the Olympics are in their final stages (pictured above: security at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris on July 24)
Members of the Gendarmerie are seen at the Place de la Concorde ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympics on July 25, 2024 in Paris, France
Armed guards near Plaza de la Bastilla, Paris. The Opening Ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics took place on Friday, July 26, on the banks of the Seine River.
“We have intelligence indicating that Iranian operatives and other terrorist groups are planning to target members of the Israeli delegation and Israeli tourists,” Katz said at the warning, according to Israeli media.
It comes as French police detain a suspected jihadist on suspicion of a terror plot targeting the Olympics.
An 18-year-old man from Gironde, a region in southwestern France, was arrested yesterday, with police reportedly finding evidence that he believed in jihadist ideology, according to local media.
Investigators​​​​confirmed to local media that there was a connection with another person, also an 18-year-old, who was arrested on Tuesday.
The two allegedly communicated over an encrypted messaging service, where they reportedly wrote that they wanted to commit ‘violent acts’ against the Olympians.
