Russian law enforcement authorities arrested 44 people over the past week in connection with a surge of arson and bombing attempts targeting public buildings across the country, the state-run news agency TASS reported Thursday, citing the Interior Ministry’s press service.
“Between Dec. 18 and Dec. 26, a total of 55 crimes were documented, including attempts to set fire to or bomb administrative buildings, police vehicles, banks and postal services,” Russia’s Interior Ministry said in a statement. The incidents have occurred in major cities such as Moscow and St. Petersburg, as well as regions including Novosibirsk, Tula and Pskov, among others.
Law enforcement authorities urged citizens to “resist provocations” encouraging criminal acts.
According to TASS, many of those arrested are senior citizens allegedly recruited online by scammers offering payment for carrying out the attacks. Sberbank reported a 30% rise in arson attempts last week and attributed the recruitment to scammers operating from Ukraine.
In the latest incident, a man in the Vladimir region late Wednesday drove his SUV into the entrance of a military recruitment office and then set the vehicle on fire. Local authorities claimed the man, who was later arrested, fell “victim to Ukrainian scammers.”
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) previously warned of schemes involving fraudsters posing as Russian security officials to solicit arson attacks from citizens, often under the guise of recovering blocked bank accounts.
No response from Kyiv has been reported regarding allegations of Ukrainian involvement.
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