MOSCOW, Jan 22, 2024 (AFP) – Russian security services in Siberia have detained a man accused of allegedly planning arson attacks on military facilities in the Altai republic, news agencies reported on Monday.
Since launching full-scale hostilities in Ukraine in February 2022, Moscow has detained a slew of Russians and foreign citizens for allegedly working with Kyiv or planning attacks on army installations.
The local branch of the FSB security services said the Russian suspect — a resident of the city of Barnaul born in 1979 — had made contact with a paramilitary group in Russia and agreed to carry out “terrorist” attacks.
It claimed that the man had been planning to attack a Russian defence ministry building with Molotov cocktails, and that the suspect had already pleaded guilty.
Authorities have opened a case against him for “attempting to commit a terrorist act,” charges that carry a maximum penalty of two decades in prison.
Russia has sentenced a slew of people for attacking military recruitment centres across the country or for carrying out acts of “sabotage” against military-linked infrastructure.
Separately, the FSB announced to news agencies on Monday they had detained a man in Novokuznetsk in southern Russia for sending money to the Ukrainian military and opened a case into high treason.
