A teenage girl from Volgograd has been charged with sabotage.
The case of a 17-year-old Volgograd resident accused of setting two mobile phone base stations on fire has been referred to court.
As reported by the "Caucasian Knot," in the southern regions of Russia, since the start of the military operation in Ukraine, there have been repeated arson attacks on railway equipment, as well as mobile phone base stations. For example, in April 2025, two 19-year-old students from Volzhsky, Maxim Zubarev and Evgeny Kadykov, were found guilty of setting fire to a base station allegedly on orders from Ukrainian special services and received lengthy sentences.
Investigators in Volgograd reported the referral to court of the criminal case of a local resident accused of two counts of sabotage (Part 2 of Article 281 of the Russian Criminal Code). This article carries a prison sentence of twelve to twenty years.
According to investigators, a 17-year-old Volgograd resident received an offer via instant messaging to set fire to cellular base stations for a monetary reward. After agreeing to the assignment, in December 2025, the girl received the coordinates of two stations in the Voroshilovsky and Krasnooktyabrsky districts of Volgograd along with detailed instructions.
The minor purchased a flammable liquid and set fire to both stations one by one, filming her actions with a mobile phone camera. "She sent the video to her handler, who promised a generous payment but failed to keep his promise," according to a statement on the Investigative Committee's official Telegram channel.
Similar wording often appears in criminal cases: allegedly "unidentified individuals" force teenagers or young adults to film arson and then send the videos to the "customer." This narrative in a large number of criminal cases suggests that investigators have found a simple way to prove the crimes, as Roman Melnichenko, a candidate of legal sciences, previously noted.
The damage caused to telecom operators by the arson attacks is estimated at over 1.5 million rubles, the department noted.
The investigation did not specify whether the accused admitted her guilt. The report also contains no information about the preventive measure chosen for the defendant.
"Caucasian Knot" also reported that in March, a court in Maykop placed a minor accused of setting fire to an MTS mobile phone base station in pretrial detention.