Defence of suspects of setting fire to military commissariat in Kuban hopes for leniency

The employee of the military commissariat (registration and enlistment office) in the town of Goryachy Klyuch, Krasnodar Territory, interrogated in the case of the building arson, has failed to confirm any significant damage caused to the commissariat by fire. This gives hope for the mitigation of charges against Boris Goncharenko and Bogdan Abdurakhmanov, their advocate has stated.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on October 6, 2022, an unknown person set fire to the military commissariat building in Goryachy Klyuch; the employees thereof managed to put out the fire. Law enforcers detained a suspect in arson.

Felix Vertegel, the advocate, has stated that the defence and the defendants disagree with the classification of their offence as a terror act.

On October 6, 2023, the advocate also reported that Goncharenko was complaining about the custody conditions at the Krasnodar SIZO (pre-trial prison); and already the third hearing in the case was disrupted because the Federal Penitentiary Service (known as FSIN) failed to bring the defendants to court.

Goncharenko's defence insists that he hadn't taken part in the arson himself, but only prepared the mixture that Bogdan Abdurakhmanov had used. This is confirmed by CCTV cameras. The advocate believes that his client should be involved in the case as an accomplice, but investigators have accuses him of complicity.

Earlier, Vladimir Tsimliansky, an officer from the General Staff, stated that any arson of military commissariats should be classified as terror acts and entail up to 15 years of freedom deprivation.