Pensioner tried to set fire to military recruitment office in north Russian town Usinsk

The woman threw one of her weapons towards the front door of the building, but the bottle with flammable contents failed to catch fire. The second bottle was thrown on the ground as police officers detained her, the Russian version of the Barents Observer reports with reference to local sources.

The woman is reportedly employed in a cleaning agency. She now faces terrorism charges and ultimately several years behind bars. It is not known whether she herself has relatives drafted to the war.

Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the number of cases of arson against military draft offices have skyrocketed. Several of the offices have burned to the ground. According to a compiled list, there have been at least 100 cases of arson, the big majority of them in the weeks after the start of the mobilisation on 21st of September.

Only in the days between 22-30 September more than 30 cases of arson were registered. A few cases have taken place also in the Russian North. In October, there were two cases in Arkhangelsk and on the 23rd of February 2023 someone threw a molotov cocktail at a recruitment office in Murmansk. In the latter case, only parts of the window frame were damaged, Radio Svoboda reported.

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