Moscow — Russia’s security service on Thursday said it had arrested six people, including three teenagers, for allegedly setting fire to railway and communications equipment on orders from Ukrainian intelligence.
Since the start of its offensive on Ukraine, more than 100 Russians have been arrested for alleged sabotage and arson attacks on military, railway and other infrastructure sites.
Russia has branded them “traitors” and “saboteurs” and punished them with lengthy prison sentences.
The FSB security service said it “detained six Russian citizens involved in arson attacks on railway and communications infrastructure”, adding the youngest suspect was born in 2009.
The detainees were “recruited by Ukrainian secret services into criminal activity in return for payment of 10 000 to 15 000 rubles ($108 to $162),” it said.
In video released by state media, armed FSB officers were filmed pinning young men to the ground beside a white minibus at a roadside. One man can be seen being interrogated as he lay handcuffed, face down in the vehicle.
🇷🇺#Russia #Россия #Дагестане #Dagestan #ФСБ: Accomplices of Ukrainian fraudulent call centers detained in Dagestan
Five attackers helped telephone scammers from Ukraine – they called Russians, posing as law enforcement officers, special services and banks.
The FSB reported that… pic.twitter.com/iaGDvdgoet
— 🌐World News 24 🌍🌎🌏 (@DailyWorld24) September 25, 2024
Another man said a recruiter contacted him and others on Telegram and “proposed we carry out arson attacks”, after which they set fire to three mobile phone masts.
The handler sent instructions on making explosives so they could do “more serious projects: trains, tankers, commercial trains”, he added.
The suspects only admitted to having set fire to mobile masts in the videos published by state media.
The FSB said investigators had opened probes “terrorism” and “treason” probes, with the suspects facing up to life in prison.
The suspects come from Siberia and central and southern Russia, the FSB said.
Russia on Wednesday detained two teenagers accused of setting fire to a military helicopter in the Siberian city of Omsk. The pair face 20 years in prison on “terrorism” charges.
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Source: AFP
Picture: Unsplash
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