A wave of arson attempts has swept across Russia in recent days, targeting shopping malls, post offices and government offices, Agence France-Presse reported, citing local media, BTA reported.
According to the TASS news agency and the independent website "Fontanka", around 20 separate cases of attempts to detonate small explosive devices or set off fireworks at buildings have been recorded since Friday, mainly in St. Petersburg, Moscow and their suburbs. According to an unnamed law enforcement source, TASS reports that the people were recruited by online scammers who offered money for the attacks.
Surveillance camera footage from some sites posted on social media shows the individuals using their mobile phones to film the fires they are trying to start. Footage from one of the attacks shows a destroyed ATM and broken windows nearby, while another shows a police car set on fire.
The targets of the attacks are ATMs of state banks, shopping malls, post offices, military recruitment offices, police cars and other administrative buildings. According to RIA Novosti, citing the press service of "Sberbank", the number of arson attempts has increased by 30% in the past week. TASS reports that most of those arrested after the attempted attacks are pensioners. "Sberbank" said they were recruited by people in Ukraine.
The Russian security service FSB has already warned Russians that Ukrainian fraudsters posing as security service agents have been calling elderly people to ask them to commit arson in exchange for money or to restore access to blocked accounts. Kiev has not responded to the wave of attempted attacks or to accusations that they were organized from Ukrainian territory.
Several military districts have been set on fire with Molotov cocktails since the start of the Russian offensive in Ukraine in February 2022. Recruiting centers have also been targeted again since the start of the unpopular partial mobilization announced by President Vladimir Putin in September 2022, under which 300,000 Russians were called up to fight in the conflict. Russian courts have handed down sentences of several years to those arrested for these attacks, AFP recalls.