Vladikavkaz resident arrested in case of arson of cell tower

A resident of Vladikavkaz, suspected of setting fire to a cell phone tower, has been taken into custody.

As "Kavkazsky Uzel" reported, in the regions of southern Russia, after the start of the military operation in Ukraine, there have been repeated arson attacks on railway and cell phone equipment. Thus, on July 9, the FSB reported that a resident of Krasnodar Krai, detained for setting fire to cell phone equipment, has been taken into custody.

A court has remanded a resident of Vladikavkaz, suspected of setting fire to a cell phone tower, Interfax reports today.

According to the police, the arson attack on a cell phone base station occurred on September 7 near the botanical garden in Vladikavkaz. "As a result of the crime, the company's property suffered damages estimated at 2,000,000 rubles," the statement posted on the website of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for North Ossetia reads.

On September 14, the suspect, a resident of Vladikavkaz, born in 1972, was detained. "The detainee confessed. He reported that in early August, curators operating from the territory of Ukraine contacted him via messenger. They offered him to commit arson at an important communications facility, promising a monetary reward of 2,000 US dollars. Having received detailed instructions on how to commit arson and the composition of the flammable mixture, on the night of September 7, he carried out his criminal plan," the department said.

According to security officials, after the arson, the man left Russia, but "soon returned," after which he was detained. The case is being investigated under Part 2 of Article 167 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (intentional destruction or damage to property), which provides for up to five years of imprisonment, the Ministry of Internal Affairs said in a publication.

Criminal cases of arson often feature a typical formulation: allegedly "unidentified persons" force people to film arson and then send them to the "customer." Such a plot in a large number of criminal cases suggests that investigators have found a simple way to prove crimes, Roman Melnichenko, a candidate of legal sciences, said earlier.