St. Petersburg man arrested after setting fire to military enlistment office and trying to drive car through its gates

A St. Petersburg man set fire to the entrance of a military enlistment office in the city, multiple Russian news outlets reported on Monday.

According to the online newspaper Fontanka, the incident occurred at 7:20 p.m. local time on July 31. The Telegram channel Mash na Moike said the man threw at least two Molotov cocktails at the office’s door before trying to ram the gates leading to the building’s inner courtyard with a vehicle.

The man was arrested at the scene. According to Fontanka, he claimed that an “FSB agent” by the name of “Kolesnikov” convinced him to carry out the attack. The agent first contacted him about two weeks ago, the man said, and told him the arson attack was necessary so that he could obtain access to documents in the office related to Ukraine.