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It is burning and blazing: how and why are military registration and enlistment offices set on fire in the Russian Federation?

RussiaDisintegration #РозвалРосії

Since the end of July, there have already been more than 20 arsons or attempted arson of military registration and enlistment offices in the Russian Federation. Last time, a wave of such actions began in the autumn of 2022 after the announcement of mobilization. This time, the detainees admitted that they did not oppose the war or forced conscription, but became victims of telephone fraudsters.

One of the first incidents occurred on July 29 in Severodvinsk. A 76-year-old pensioner threw a Molotov cocktail at the wall of the local military commissariat. As a result, no one was injured, but the man was detained. When his home was searched, they found correspondence in a messenger in which an unknown interlocutor convinced the pensioner to “punish those who participate in “state treason”. In the Trans-Baikal region, a 17-year-old girl tried to burn down a military commissariat after unknown people convinced her by phone that a “traitor” worked there, who gave Ukrainian intelligence information about the residents of the village who were participating in the war.

A similar story happened in Russian-occupied Feodosia, where a 51-year-old teacher admitted that she received the task of setting fire to the military commissariat from a man who introduced himself as an Federal Security Service employee. In Kazan, a 31-year-old woman threw two Molotov cocktails at cars parked near the military commissariat, and during interrogation she said that she acted on the instructions of the “security forces”.

In St. Petersburg, a man twice threw a Molotov cocktail at the door of the military commissariat. The detainee claimed that “Kolesnikov, a Federal Security Service employee” convinced him to set it on fire. It is known about three attempts to set fire to military commissariats in St. Petersburg.

Often, people who tried to set fire to the military commissariat were convinced by phone that a loan was taken out in their name or someone tried to do it. According to them, it was necessary to set fire to the military commissariat either to “punish fraudsters”. Not a really logical connection: a loan and a military commissariat, do you agree?

Since the autumn of last year, the mass media informed about more than 20 cases when people – most often pensioners – under the influence of telephone fraudsters, tried to set fire to military commissariats. Unlike similar attempts related to anti-war protests or mobilization, arson attempts on the instructions of fraudsters most often happen at daytime without any attempt to hide their faces.

By July 2023, more than 100 attempts to set fire to military commissariats were recorded in the Russian Federation, and taking into account the new wave, this number is approaching 150, of which 82 arsons were considered and investigated as terrorism, as well as destruction of property (28 cases), hooliganism (9), attempted on a security officer`s life (2), sabotage, state treason, attempted murder, etc. The Russian General Staff, after the start of the mobilization, declared that the arson of military commissariats should be regarded as acts of terrorism.

The destruction of the Russian Federation from inside continues… as they say, not by military commissariats alone. So we are waiting for the continuation.

The materials were prepared by Polina Romanova, Ukrainian Women’s Guard, for the Free Idel-Ural

Ukrainian Women’s Guard

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