In Yekaterinburg, a 17-year-old teenager detained over gas station arson case

Detention in Yekaterinburg

In Yekaterinburg, a 17-year-old young man has been detained on charges of sabotage after setting fire to a fuel dispenser at a gas station. According to the Sverdlovsk regional office of the Investigative Committee,, on the evening of October 24 the teenager acted, according to the investigation, on orders from handlers with whom he had been corresponding online.

Circumstances according to the investigation

According to city police, the day before the incident the young man met a girl who suggested meeting up so she could buy a vape from him. At the appointed time, the acquaintance asked him to send his location, after which she stopped responding. Then unknown people contacted the young man and, in his words, forced him to commit the crime. The organizers kept in constant contact with him and even ordered him a taxi: in that car he traveled to the gas station on Uralskaya Street, and then left. Traffic police officers located the suspect based on identifying descriptions and detained him.

Charges and next steps

Investigators have charged the Yekaterinburg resident under sub-paragraphs 'a' and 'b' of Part 2 of Article 281 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Procedural actions are being carried out with him to establish the circumstances of the incident and the motives. In the near future, law enforcement intends to petition the court to place the suspect in pre-trial detention.

A similar case in Balashikha

It was previously reported that a 16-year-old resident of the Mozhaysky urban district was detained in Balashikha on suspicion of setting fire to a gas pump. According to the Moscow Region police, the young man explained that he acted on instructions from strangers who posed as security service officers in a messenger app. The fire broke out at a gas station on Leonovskoye Highway; the blaze was quickly extinguished and there were no casualties.

Context

According to law enforcement agencies, both cases share the same scheme: minors were induced online to set fire to gas stations. This is an editorial observation based on reports from the Investigative Committee and the Ministry of Internal Affairs; details of exactly how the handlers induced the teenagers to commit the crimes are not disclosed in the publications. The incident affects gas station owners and residents of the cities where the affected stations are located: the investigation into the Yekaterinburg case is already moving toward the court stage — the question of the suspect's arrest will be decided in the near future.