A police officer in Yekaterinburg shot a 17-year-old while detaining him on suspicion of setting fire to police vehicles, the Interior Ministry’s Sverdlovsk regional directorate told Vecherniye Vedomosti.
Two police vehicles caught fire on the grounds of Police Station No. 3 overnight on October 15. The teenager was found at the scene. An officer used his service weapon while detaining him, acting “in accordance with the law,” the Interior Ministry said. The teenager was grazed and was not taken to a hospital.
The Investigative Committee said it had opened a criminal investigation into the teenager on suspicion of sabotage. Investigators allege that he set the vehicles on fire “on instructions from handlers” with whom he had been exchanging messages online.
The teenager’s first name is Anatoly. He is a first-year student at a vocational college, training to become a computer operator, and had recently been working part-time as a courier for a cafe. Police had previously placed him under the supervision of juvenile officers for smoking at school.
Police are also looking into whether the teenager was manipulated by scammers.
At least 240 teenagers in Russia have been detained on terrorism or sabotage charges since the start of the war, according to Mediazona’s May 2026 tally. In most cases — 205 — the suspects said they had been looking for an easy way to earn some extra money. Six teenagers committed arson after being manipulated by scammers, while five said they opposed the war. In the remaining cases, the motive was unclear.
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- The FSB ran ads offering Russians quick cash to commit sabotage. The agency called it a ‘social experiment.’
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