The reception of the pro-Putin party «United Russia» was set on fire on February 16 in the Moscow region city of Dolgoprudny. Telegram channels close to Russian security forces claim that an unidentified person approached the building and threw a bottle with an incendiary mixture onto the canopy.
In the party's official press release dated February 19, it is specified that the building was not damaged — only the sign caught fire, and passers-by managed to extinguish it in time. Nevertheless, «United Russia» insists that they consider this incident an act of terrorism.
«It is obvious that representatives of the so-called non-systemic opposition have strayed far from political constructive struggle. All they are interested in is chaos and the collapse of the country,» said Denis Perepelytsyn, the first deputy secretary of the Moscow regional branch of the party.
The party also claims that anonymous Telegram channels are spreading a video of the moment of the arson. In it, an unidentified person in a mask declares that his act is revenge for the murder of Alexey Navalny.
According to Telegram channels close to Russian security forces, on February 20, the suspect was detained. It is claimed that his name is Vladimir Ch., and he is a 9th-grade student. A criminal case has been initiated against him under the article «Hooliganism», specifies the Telegram channel. There has been no official report about the detention of the suspect or the initiation of the case.
Since the beginning of the full-scale war in Ukraine, Russian security forces have recorded at least 184 acts of sabotage on railways and 220 attacks on military enlistment offices and «government authority objects», report Russian media, citing the deputy chief of the main directorate for public order protection of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, Stanislav Kolesnik. In reality, there may be many more such cases — Russian propaganda media prefer not to write about them, but information leaks into independent media and Telegram channels.
The incident in Dolgoprudny, like many other similar incidents across Russia, demonstrates the growing tension within the country and an increase in protest sentiments in the context of the ongoing war in Ukraine. The reaction of the pro-government party «United Russia,» which called the incident an act of terrorism, highlights the authorities' intention to present protest actions as a threat to public safety and stability. This approach may be aimed at justifying an intensification of repression against the opposition.
