The building targeted by the Russian-Ukrainian man, who was wounded on June 3 while making an explosive device in his hotel room, located near the Paris region's Charles de Gaulle international airport, was not a strategic one. Le Monde has learned the initial results of the investigation into the man indicate that he was preparing to attack an outlet of the home improvement store chain Bricorama, located in a commercial zone north of the French capital. His planned act was, however, part of a vast sabotage campaign orchestrated in Moscow, which targeted several European countries.
In the late afternoon of June 3, a sturdily-built 26-year-old man, a Ukrainian and Russian dual national, was taken to a hospital by firefighters, after suffering burns to his upper body, face and head. He initially said that they had been caused by an accidental explosion. However, the curious conditions of the incident and the man's suspicious profile led the emergency services to report the matter to law enforcement authorities, who quickly referred the case to France's domestic intelligence agency, the General Directorate of Internal Security (DGSI).
Arrested in his hospital room and placed in police custody, he initially denied any criminal intent. Yet after searching his hotel room, investigators found and seized evidence that contradicted his statements. They found forged identity papers, products and materials intended for constructing explosive devices, mobile phones and traces of ammonium nitrate. The man was indicted and imprisoned on June 7 for "criminal terrorist conspiracy," as well as "possession of a substance or explosive with a view to preparing destruction or harm to persons, in connection with a terrorist enterprise."
Originally from the Donbas
The investigations then shed light on the aborted operation. According to a source close to the investigation, the man had intended to place his hand-made bomb in a Bricorama store, before it opened in the early hours of the morning. This detail would seem to indicate his intention to cause only material damage, and avoid any loss of human life.
Having arrived on French soil a few days earlier, he would appear to have prepared his attack without any visible help from the outside. Despite his lack of knowledge of the French language, he had bought the cell phones and the materials needed to make his explosive device himself. The suspect was injured when the hand-made explosive detonated accidentally. He had made it using the highly unstable chemical TATP, connected to a mobile phone.
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