Russia has seen a wave of arson attempts targeting banks, shopping malls, post offices and government buildings over the past three days, according to media reports.
Around twenty separate cases of individuals attempting to set off small explosive devices or throw fireworks at buildings have been recorded since Friday December 20, 2024, mainly in Saint Petersburg, Moscow and surrounding suburbs, according to the TASS news agency and the independent Fontanka website.
Money offered for these attacks
Citing an anonymous law enforcement source, the TASS agency indicated that these people had been recruited by online fraudsters who offered money for these attacks.
Images from surveillance cameras at some sites, posted on social media, appear to show individuals using their cell phones to film the fires they are trying to start.
Footage from the aftermath of one attack shows an ATM destroyed and nearby windows blown out, while another video shows a police car set on fire.
State-owned bank ATMs, shopping malls, post offices, military recruitment offices, police vehicles and other administrative buildings were targeted.
Sberbank reported a 30% increase in arson attempts over the past week, according to the Ria Novosti news agency citing the bank's press service.
The majority of those arrested are said to be retirees
Most of those arrested after the attempted attacks were retirees, according to the TASS agency. Sberbank said they were recruited by people in Ukraine.
The Russian Security Service (FSB) has already warned Russians that Ukrainian fraudsters, posing as security guards, have called elderly people asking them to commit arson in exchange for money or to collect the access to blocked accounts.
kyiv did not react to the wave of attempted attacks or to accusations of orchestration from Ukrainian territory.
Since the start of the Russian offensive in Ukraine in February 2022, several Russian army recruitment offices have been hit by arson attacks committed with Molotov cocktails.
More than 300,000 Russians forcibly conscripted into the army
Recruitment centers were further targeted after the start of an unpopular conscription campaign announced by President Vladimir Putin in September 2022, in which more than 300,000 Russians were forcibly conscripted to fight in the conflict.
Russian courts have sentenced those arrested for the attacks to several years in prison.
