RIGA, July 26 (LETA) - The high-speed train sabotage acts in France could be an attempt by Russia to disrupt the Olympic Games, according to the Director of the NATO Center of Excellence for Strategic Communications, Janis Sarts.

Speaking to LETA, Sarts suggested that the acts of sabotage could be linked to the recent arrest of Russian chef Kirill Gryaznov, who was recruited by Russian special services to stage provocations at the Paris Olympics.

In other words, it could be part of a Russian campaign to spoil the success of the Paris Olympics.

He noted that for Russian President Vladimir Putin, the 2014 Sochi Olympics and their success were a very important element, an essential part of the country's image.

The expert said that preventing such attacks could be difficult, as there are several ways in which such activities are planned and organized. "Let's not forget that a sabotage group was recently arrested in Ukraine planning to carry out acts of sabotage in Ukraine, Poland and the Baltic States, so it's quite a wide circle in which this organizing of sabotages takes place," Sarts added.

He did not deny that there are concerns that other attacks could take place. ''The French government and other governments have communicated about this,'' said Sarts, adding that this is a time when hybrid attacks are also possible and likely to happen.

The AFP news agency reports that French security forces are hunting people behind Friday arson attacks that hobbled the country's high-speed rail network hours before the Olympic Games opening ceremony, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said.

"Our intelligence services and law enforcement are mobilized to find and punish the perpetrators of these criminal acts," Attal posted on X, calling the attacks "prepared and coordinated acts of sabotage against (rail operator) SNCF's installations" with "huge and serious consequences for the rail network".