The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) detained a Russian national in the Siberian city of Kemerovo on suspicion of damaging two power poles in the region, state news agency RIA Novosti reports.
The local law enforcement suggests that the man’s actions had caused power outages in the city.
“Bottles with lighter fluid, gasoline containers, fixing bolts from the damaged power lines, air guns modified to shoot live rounds, two combat knives, as well as maps showing the location of Kemerovo enlistment offices and police stations were found in his home,” the FSB stated.
The security service claims that the suspect is a “Ukrainian Nazi sympathiser.” The FSB published a video of his arrest, which shows a damaged power pole and the alleged “evidence” of the man’s involvement in the crime: construction tools, nails, a wad of money, guns, acetone bottles, a bag of fertiliser and even the Quran. The video ends with the man’s confession. “Initially, I wanted to start a fire at an enlistment office. An empty one, of course, with no people inside,” he said.
Since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, arson attempts have been reported in over a dozen Russian conscription offices, including offices in Omsk, Nizhnevartovsk, Balashikha (Moscow region), Volgograd. Local police officers detained two 16-year-olds who attempted to throw Molotov cocktails at an enlistment office in Cherepovets. The suspects were identified with the aid of the city’s video surveillance system.
