Paris on High Alert: Russia Threatens Olympics with Sabotage, Cyberattacks and Disinformation Campaigns

A suspected terrorist plot was thwarted near Paris in early June after French police arrested a 26-year-old Russian-Ukrainian man after a self-inflicted explosion rocked his hotel room near Charles de Gaulle airport. The man – a Russian-speaker from the Moscow-occupied Donbas region in eastern Ukraine – sustained severe burns, and investigators found bomb-making materials and, according to media reports, weapons and false passports. 

The National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office is investigating the man suspected of involvement in a terrorist conspiracy. But this is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to security threats on the 2024 Paris Olympics from Russia-connected actors as opening night draws closer.

French police are also investigating the placement of five coffins draped in French flags at the Eiffel Tower as a potential act of Russian interference. The coffins were inscribed with “French soldiers in the Ukraine,” possibly referencing French President Emmanuel Macron’s consideration of sending troops to Ukraine, a move opposed by Russia. Three men, including a Bulgarian and a German national, were arrested in connection with the incident. They claimed to be paid for the job and denied any political motive. French domestic intelligence agency, the DGSE, released a memo indicating that Russia’s FSB intelligence agency orchestrated the placing of the coffins.

Additionally, one of the suspects is a suspect for possible involvement in the vandalism of the Holocaust memorial in Paris a week earlier, in which 35 red hands were painted on the storied monument that pays tribute to those who safeguarded Jews from persecution amid the WWII Nazi occupation of France.

So, just how concerning is the Russia threat to the Olympics host city?