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Russia jails youths for pro-Ukraine arson.
A Russian court on Tuesday sentenced five young people to more than a decade in prison each for setting fire to a helicopter and railway equipment on behalf of Ukraine, Russian state media reported.
Russia has been hit by dozens of sabotage attacks since Moscow launched its offensive against Kyiv in 2022, many targeting its vast railroad network.
Nikita Bulgakov, Roman Yakovets, Anastasia Mochalina, Daniil Yamskov and Stanislav Khamidullin, all in their early twenties, were sentenced by a military court in Moscow to between 12 and a half to 18 years, the state RIA Novosti news agency reported.
They were convicted on charges of sabotage and terrorism.
The group, which lived together in Moscow, was accused of setting fire to a search and rescue helicopter at a Moscow airfield in April 2024, as well as burning railway equipment.
A video dated April 26, 2024 posted on the Ukrainian military intelligence service’s Telegram account showed a helicopter being set on fire, captioned: “An enemy Ka-32 helicopter was burned at an airfield in Moscow”.
All of defendants except for Mochalina pleaded guilty and said they were looking for easy money.
Yamskov asked to be sent to the front lines in Ukraine to atone for his crime, a measure Russian authorities have offered to convicts in return for their freedom since the conflict began.
The accused received around $300 in cryptocurrency for both acts from a handler, whom the investigators identified only as “Tony”, the Mediazona news outlet reported.
Prosecutors estimated material damage at $8.5 million, according to Mediazona.
Railway infrastructure across Russia has been targeted since the Ukraine conflict began three years ago. Many of those accused of carrying out the crimes are young people, and some are teenagers.
Kyiv says Russia uses railroads to transport troops and weaponry to its forces fighting in Ukraine.