The Frunzensky District Court of St. Petersburg arrested on December 8 26-year-old nurse Maxim Asriyan, who was detained at Pulkovo airport and suspected of attempted arson of the Frunzensky military commissariat. This is reported by the correspondent of «Mediazona» from the courtroom.
Asriyan is charged with part 3 of article 30, part 1 of article 205 of the Criminal Code (attempted terrorist act, punishment from 10 to 15 years in prison). As defender Vera Ivanova said in court, Asriyan found the means to light it, approached the building of the Frunze military commissariat, but soon realized that «his actions could harm living people.» Therefore, the lawyer emphasized, her client voluntarily refused to take any action, as he could not stand «the very fact of violence.»
Despite this, the investigation insisted on the arrest of Asriyan. The investigator noted that Asriyan “does not live at the place of registration, has a foreign passport, during the period of the special military operation he left the territory of Russia and lived in Georgia.” Now in Georgia, the investigation added, close relatives of the suspect live, including his wife Angelina Kazakova.
“[The wife] is aware of her husband’s criminal activities, shares his extremist views and position, and is dissatisfied with the current government of the Russian Federation and its policies, in particular, the conduct of a special military operation,” the investigation believes. Kazakova, according to the UK, «may be personally involved in Asriyan's criminal activities.»
The investigator also said that during the search, Asriyan's phone was found with «instructions for undermining and destroying the railway infrastructure.» On the laptop, they also found a completed application form for joining the Freedom of Russia Legion and a file that contains a link to Telegram accounts “connected with the illegal sale of military weapons.”
At the same time, defender Vera Ivanova noted that Asriyan fully admitted his guilt, and during the search he told the security forces the passwords for his devices. She clarified that Asriyan really filled out a questionnaire for joining the Freedom of Russia Legion and wanted to provide medical assistance to civilians injured during the war. However, the defender noted, when Asriyan “learned about the sources of funding for the legion”, he decided not to send the questionnaire.
In addition, the lawyer added, Asriyan has severe chronic diseases that prevent him from being taken into custody.
The detention of a 26-year-old nurse became known on October 9th. The 47news publication wrote that, according to the FSB, Asriyan was going to set fire to the military commissariat on October 1.