- At least 16 Russians were tricked into attempting to set government buildings and vehicles on fire.
- They were told by scammers to ditch their Molotov cocktails, according to local media, with little success.
- Some were told to shout Ukrainian slogans even though they believed they were supporting the Russian army.
According to local media, Russian pensioners have been tricked into throwing Molotov cocktails at Russian military offices and in the cars of civil servants.
Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, Russian citizens have carried out at least 16 arson attempts against government or bank property on the orders of crooks. This is reported by Russian independent media MediaZona.
Officials attempted to set fire to enlistment offices, bank ATMs, car trunks and police stations, but most failed, the outlet reported.At least 11 of them were over the age of 55, according to MediaZona.
Some of them, like 65-year-old Yelena Belova, were told to drink Molotov cocktails and shout pro-Ukrainian slogans despite being told they were supporting the Russian military.
Russian police detained Belova in August. She set fire to the trunk of the deputy secretary of war, According to the independent Russian news agency Shot.
“Azov is power!” Belova shouted while throwing Molotov cocktails, Schott reported. The Azov Battalion is a far-right Ukrainian paramilitary organization whose praise is prohibited in Russia.
According to Independent Bazaara stranger called Belova and convinced her to join a “special operation”.
The caller convinced her to send him a large sum of cash and then told her to carry out an arson attempt as part of her mission.
When arrested, Belova told police that she supported the war in Ukraine and that she would not have set fire to the car had she known it belonged to a military commander, Baza said. reported.
Would-be arsonist gets first scam call
Another suspected arsonist, a 67-year-old woman identified only as Olga, lit two Molotov cocktails on 27 March and attempted to throw them into the enlistment office in Nizhniy Tagil city. according to the shot.
But she was stopped by police, Schott reported. Olga told authorities that a strange man had been calling her for a month saying he was a banker.
According to Schott, he taught Olga how to make Molotov cocktails and instructed her to light fires in government buildings.
When the police confronted Olga, she called the crooks. According to a video posted by the Russian telegram channel Ural Mash,
“Hide now, what are you doing there? Have you been released or are you still detained?” the man asked Olga.
“No, they’re hugging me. We’re standing on the street where they stopped me,” Olga told the man on the phone.
The man asked Olga if she had any bottles left to throw or if she still had a lighter.
“No,” she told him.
Reported by local outlet E1.Ru Olga has just lost her son to cancer, and a scammer persuades her to sell her apartment and take out a loan.
MediaZona reports that most of the arson attempts were perpetrated by elderly people who subsequently did not escape arrest.
They include 70-year-old Alexander Rassohin, who lit a Molotov cocktail and placed it in the window of his enlistment office, and a 71-year-old woman who set fire to the carpet of a bank branch in St. Petersburg. MediaZona.
Anonymous 71-year-old woman called someone after being attacked in October. “I’ve completed my work. Get me out of here,” she said to her caller. According to the St. Petersburg news agency Fontanka.
Some had their money stolen from their accounts and were told they would only see the cash again if they threw a Molotov cocktail at a particular government building. A shot was reported.
Among the deceived Russians, 36 year old mother with newborn baby 22 year old student, According to MediaZona.
Russia’s Federal Service Service issued a warning in December about fraudulent calls. The State Department accused Ukraine without providing any evidence or substantiation for its allegations.
Scammers have persuaded “gullible citizens to set fire to infrastructure and cars in crowded areas.” The ministry said in a press release.
Most of these arsonists were said to be part of an operation to catch the criminals.
The Russian government’s press department did not immediately respond to a request for insider comment sent outside normal business hours.