An 'immigrant hating' Frenchman who planned 15 mass attacks on the Euro 2016 football championship was today facing a range of terrorist charges after being arrested in Ukraine.

Police announced the arrest of the 25-year-old, identified as Gregoire Moutaux, on the day the England team flew into Paris ready for the tournament's kick off on Friday.

'Gregoire was armed to the teeth and ready to strike,' said a source close to the investigation, who said details of targets emerged during questioning.

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An 'immigrant hating' Frenchman who planned 15 mass attacks on the Euro 2016 football championship was today facing a range of terrorist charges after being arrested in Ukraine (pictured)

Ukraine police said he had massed a 'vast arsenal' including five Kalashnikov assault rifles, two anti-tank grenade launchers, 5000 rounds of ammunition and 125kg of TNT explosives

A source close to the investigation said the 25-year-old suspect was 'armed to the teeth and ready to strike'

Police announced the arrest of the 25-year-old, identified as Gregoire Moutaux, on the day the England team flew into Paris ready for the tournament's kick off on Friday

The 'far-right nationalist', who originally comes from Bar-le-Duc, near Reims, in northeast France, was arrested on Ukraine's border with Poland on May 21st.

Ukraine police said he had massed a 'vast arsenal' including five Kalashnikov assault rifles, two anti-tank grenade launchers, 5000 rounds of ammunition and 125kg of TNT explosives.

'He could have caused carnage,' said the source, who also described Moutaux as 'a farm worker from the Lorraine district of France, who objected to his country being taken over by immigrants.'

Moutaux was a confirmed Islamophobe and anti-Semite, and specifically wanted to targets mosques, synagogues, and 'large crowds building up around Euro 2016.'

Vasyl Grytsak, of the SBU Ukrainian security service, said: 'We were able to prevent fifteen terrorist acts that were planned in France on the eve of and during the European Championship football.'

The suspect had allegedly bought a series of weapons including machine guns, explosives and grenade launchers

Ukraine police said he had massed a 'vast arsenal' including five Kalashnikov assault rifles, two anti-tank grenade launchers, 5000 rounds of ammunition and 125kg of TNT explosives

The Frenchman arrived in eastern Ukraine last year and was 'trying to establish ties with Ukrainian troops under the guise of volunteering,' the Ukrainian agency said

He confirmed Moutaux aimed 'to blow up a Muslim mosque, a Jewish synagogue, tax collection organisations, police patrol units and numerous other locations'.

Mr Grytsak added: 'He obtained five Kalashnikov rifles, more than 5,000 bullets, two anti-tank grenade launchers, 125 kilogrammes (275 pounds) of TNT, 100 detonators, 20 balaclavas and other things.'

Moutaux was particularly opposed to France's policy of allowing in migrants, the spread of Islam and globalisation, said Mr Grytsak.

Soon after Moutaux's arrest in Ukraine, a raid was carried out at his home in France.

There officers found Neo-Nazi t-shirts, as well as chemicals used to produce explosives and five balacalvas. He had no criminal record.

He is believed to have travelled to Ukraine, one of the most unstable states in the world at the moment, because it is so easy to pick up arms and explosives.

Ukrainian agents had been following the man since December, and allowed him to buy a series of weapons

The Paris prosecutor's office, which handles terrorism cases at a national level, said no investigation had been opened yet

Moutaux was particularly opposed to France's policy of allowing in migrants, the spread of Islam and globalisation, said Ukraine authorities

Despite this, locals in Nant-le-Petit, which has a population of just 80 people, described Moutaux as a 'polite and pleasant lad'..

Mayor Dominique Pensalfini-Demorise said: 'He was a kid who was pleasant to his neighbours, intelligent and kind.He was always ready to help people.'

British football fans will risk an unprecedented security threat when they travel to France for Euro 2016 this week.

It follows warnings from a range of security agencies, ranging from the U.S.. State Department to French police that Islamic State terrorists are planning to strike.

Marseille commander Laurent Nunez said the Three Lions 'opening match against Russia on Saturday in in the Mediterranean port city was 'a particularly high risk'.

Suggestions that the city will be attacked emerged on a computer belonging to Salah Abdeslam, the only surviving member of the ISIS death squad that hit Paris last November.

The 'far-right nationalist', who originally comes from Bar-le-Duc, near Reims, in northeast France, was arrested on Ukraine's border with Poland on May 21st

Ukraine authorities said Moutaux 'aimed to blow up a Muslim mosque, a Jewish synagogue, tax collection organisations, police patrol units and numerous other locations'

French regional newspaper L'Est Republicain identified the man as Gregoire Moutaux and said investigators raided his home (pictured) in Nant-le-Petit near the eastern city of Nancy in late May.

It managed to murder 130 people, with suicide bombers exploding their devices around the Stade de France during a football friendly between France and Germany.

Abdeslam is currently on remand in a high-security prison in Paris, and has confirmed that ISIS want to attack again, while the eyes of the world are on France during Euro 2016.

France remains under a State of Emergency following last November's attack, with thousands of soldiers joining police on the streets.

SOUTH AFRICA INSISTS 'NO IMMEDIATE DANGER' DESPITE TERROR WARNING South Africa has moved to allayed fears after Washington warned Americans of a possibly imminent terror attack by Islamic extremists in the country's major cities. 'We remain a strong and stable democratic country and there is no immediate danger,' State Security Minister David Mahlobo said in a statement. The United States on Saturday said it had received information that terrorist groups were planning to carry out attacks in South Africa during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The warning said attacks may target sites frequented by US citizens, including high-end shopping areas and malls in the economic hub of Johannesburg and Cape Town, which is popular with tourists. It came against the background of ISIS' 'public call for its adherents to carry out terrorist attacks globally during the upcoming month of Ramadan,' the US embassy in South Africa said. But the South African government played down the threat. State security ministry spokesman Brian Dube said authorities have not stepped up security following the alert. He said: 'Our information has not necessarily confirmed what has been raised by the Americans.' This is the second alert the US has issued for South Africa in under a year and was followed by British government travel advice, cautioning against a 'high threat from terrorism' in South Africa. 'Attacks could be indiscriminate, including in places visited by foreigners such as shopping areas in Johannesburg and Cape Town,' said the online foreign travel advice. South Africa has so far escaped the jihadist attacks seen in several other African countries. But according to Robert Besseling, Executive Director at Ex Africa Business Risk Intelligence, a threat of Islamist terrorism in South Africa was real. 'A successful terrorist attack in South Africa is feasible, given police ineffectiveness, serious weaknesses within the intelligence apparatus, and the lack of a counter-terrorism strategy,' he said in a statement. However, a local analyst said South Africa's neutral foreign policy did not place it at risk. 'We don't have a history of terrorism here, we have got a foreign policy that's quite neutral, we don't engage in any counter-insurgency operations either on the continent or elsewhere that would place us in at risk of retaliatory attacks,' said Ryan Cummings, an analyst with Cape Town-based Signal Risk think tank. Advertisement

Elite special forces will be on hand to deal with possible terrorist incidents, scrambling to danger zones in a matter of minutes.

French authorities have extended a state of emergency until the end of the tournament, as well as the Tour de France cycling race, which will be held from July 2 to July 24.

Some 2.5 million football fans are expected in stadiums, including 1.5 million foreign visitors.

Yesterday, French President Francois Hollande said that the threat of extremism won't stop the European Championships from being successful.

Elite special forces will be on hand to deal with possible terrorist incidents, scrambling to danger zones in a matter of minutes. Police are pictured outside the Stade de France in Paris in March

A French citizen arrested on the Ukrainian-Polish border with 125kg of explosives was planning a string of attacks in France to coincide with Euro 2016, it has emerged. French forensic officers take part in a mock terror attack drill outside the Stade des Lumieres, near Lyon earlier this week

Hollande said in an interview on Sunday with France Inter radio that precautionary measures throughout the matches, including a 90,000-strong security force, will ensure the matches scattered in 10 French cities are safe.

Hollande said France decided to go ahead with Euro 2016 despite two waves of attacks last year, and make it a 'festival for people and for sports.'

But he said that spectators at the month-long tournament must accept security checks as they enter stadiums and fan zones.