Russian military recruitment offices hit with string of arsons – report

Russian military recruitment offices hit with string of arsons – report 2 August, 10:20 PM On July 31, in St. Petersburg, a man tried to set fire to the door of a military enlistment office (Photo:Mash/Telegram)

Between July 29 and Aug. 2, citizens in Russia and occupied Crimea attempted to set fire to military recruitment offices and facilities associated with the Russian Defense Ministry at least 28 times, Russian independent media outlet Meduza reports.

According to the report, the majority of arsons occurred in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Kazan. Additionally, a military commissariat in Podolsk was set on fire twice.

Furthermore, attempts to set fire to military commissariats occurred in Severodvinsk, Mozhaisk, Aginskoye in Zabaykalsky Krai, Rososh in Voronezh Oblast, Omsk, Kopeysk and Verkhny Ural in Chelyabinsk Oblast, Volsk in Saratov Oblast, Kaluga, and Ulan-Ude.

In most cases, the detained suspects claimed that they were deceived by fraudsters pretending to be FSB officers. Many suspects also believed that by setting fire to military commissariats, they were helping to catch real criminals.

Meduza noted that this is the largest-scale attack on military commissariats in Russia since partial mobilization was announced in September 2022.

On Aug. 2, Russian media reported that at least 20 military commissariats were the targets of arson attempts within a day.

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