The Southern District Military Court sentenced Sergei Stanchev, accused of attempting to set fire to a military registration and enlistment office in Stavropol Krai, to seven years in prison. This was reported to Mediazona by the court's press service.
Stanchev was found guilty of «confidential cooperation» with a foreign state and attempted terrorist attack. The first two and a half years of the sentence the man must spend in prison, the rest of the term — in a general regime colony.
The court found that in January 2023, Stanchev called the phone number of an unnamed Ukrainian project and said that he wanted to join an armed group. After that, a representative of the Freedom of Russia Legion contacted him online, who offered «cooperation on a confidential basis,» and the man agreed.
In January-February, Stanchev, on the instructions of the legion, observed the Stavropol Krai military registration and enlistment office, filmed it and reported to a representative of the unit, the court claims. Then he agreed to set fire to the building «in order to destabilize the activities of government bodies,» the court said.
On February 7-8, Stanchev bought components for making a homemade incendiary mixture in Yessentuki and began making it, but «could not complete the crime» because he was detained by security forces.
The Stavropol FSB department reported on the detention of a resident of Yessentuki who planned to set fire to the «administrative building of the Ministry of Defense» at the end of March.