Man accused of National Guard bus arson arrested in Moscow, faces life term

Vitaly Koltsov, a 45-year-old Moscow resident, was sent into a pre-trial detention centre in Russia’s capital. He is accused of attempted murder of a National Guard soldier by setting a police bus on fire, Koltsov’s defence attorney Alan Gamazov told Mediazona.

Gamazov applied for a mild punishment, but Diana Mishchenko, the judge, denied. Koltsov is now facing a minimum term of 12 years in prison, but he might as well be sentenced for life. This would be an unprecedented case since none of the accused under the same article were sentenced for life before if the victim survived.

The prosecutor’s theory is that Koltsov threw two plastic bottles filled with flame liquid at a National Guard bus at 7 p.m. 2 May in Moscow’s Revolution Square, which caused the bus to burn. The case papers claim that Aleksandr Fedyaev, a National Guard soldier, was inside the bus, according to Mediazona.

Koltsov is accused of “deliberate attempt on the life of a law enforcer for the purpose of interfering with his legal duty.” There is no evidence of the injuries Fedyaev suffered, Mediazona notes.

The defendant was detained immediately. A video of his detention shows two National Guard soldiers striking him to the ground. The person who shared this video with Mediazona noted that the bus had been on fire a couple of minutes before it was extinguished.