Four arson attacks on regional military recruitment offices reported in one day

Pro-government Telegram channels Shot, Mash, and Baza have reported four attempts to set fire to military recruitment offices in Kazan, Kaluga, and Severodvinsk of the Arkhangelsk region. Most of these attempts were carried out by retired persons.

On the morning of July 31, the Baza Telegram channel reported an incident in Kazan, where a 62-year-old woman made an attempt to set fire to a military recruitment center. On July 29, she poured gasoline on the wall of the military enlistment office of the Kirov and Moskovsky districts, setting it ablaze. She was apprehended by the police. During interrogation, she said that she had done so “following the request by FSB officers," who threatened to cause trouble to her daughter.

A criminal case was opened against her for destruction of property. The woman was released on her own recognizance.

On July 29, in Severodvinsk of the Arkhangelsk region, a 76-year-old man threw a Molotov cocktail at the local military recruitment office. He was detained and, as reported by the Shot Telegram channel, his correspondence with a "Ukrainian curator" was discovered during the search. Allegedly, this “curator” had convinced the retiree to "punish traitors of the motherland." By “traitors" he meant individuals accused of state treason, who, according to the “curator," were held in the recruitment center. The retiree has been charged with intentional damage to property.

One more incident occurred in Kazan on July 31. The Mash Telegram channel reported that a young woman was detained while attempting to set fire to the Republican military enlistment office.

Mash also published a report from Kaluga, where a 77-year-old woman was apprehended after threatening police officers with a "grenade." While no explosive device was found on her, she had bottles with an incendiary mixture in her bag.

Courts in Russia have been handing down sentences for attempted arson attacks on military recruitment offices regularly since the announcement of partial mobilization in September 2022. In the Ivanovo Region, a man was sentenced to eight years in prison for planning a terrorist attack. The prosecution claimed that his goal was to "destabilize the operations of the governing institutions". The man threw a Molotov cocktail at the military recruitment center in April 2022.

In May, a Kazakhstani man was sentenced to 13 years in prison for setting fire to a military recruitment center in Omsk.

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