St. Petersburg pensioner sentenced to 10 years in jail for arson attack on military recruitment office

A St. Petersburg court sentenced a 66-year-old woman to 10 years in prison on Wednesday for setting fire to a military enlistment office, the St. Petersburg court press service has announced.

The crime, which the court described as a “terrorist attack”, was one of 28 incidents in which pensioners attempted to set fire to military enlistment centres across Russia after reportedly being blackmailed to do so by unknown individuals. 

Zhumagul Kurbanova, who will serve her sentence in a penal colony, admitted her guilt and paid damages of 91,965 rubles (€929). 

Kurbanova set fire to the main entrance of a military enlistment office in St. Petersburg on 1 August, according to investigators. She told the court that before the fire, scammers had stolen her savings and offered her 50,000 rubles (€511) for setting fire to the facility. 

An investigation by independent media outlet Meduza found that more than half of the blackmail targets had been over 50. The Russian government later blamed Ukrainian intelligence for the spate of attacks, though it provided no evidence to support their claim.