The Saratov Regional Court sentenced Alexey Kochetkov, a resident of the regional center, to 12 years in prison in the case of sabotage on the railway (Part 1 of Article 281 of the Criminal Code) due to the arson of two relay cabinets. This was reported by the press service of the court.
As specified in the court, Kochetkov will spend the first five years of his sentence in prison, and the remaining years in a maximum security colony. In addition, the Saratov resident was ordered to pay 74,623 rubles as material damage to Russian Railways OJSC. The man was charged another 20 thousand rubles as state income — the investigation believes that he received this amount for arson.
According to the security forces, no later than March 15, 2023, Kochetkov began corresponding with a person who eventually offered him to set fire to the relay cabinet for 10 thousand rubles. Having received the necessary data about the equipment, the Saratov resident “decided to set fire to transport infrastructure facilities in order to undermine the economic security and defense capability of the Russian Federation,” the investigation believes.
On March 16, a man used a crowbar to open two relay cabinets on the Zorinsky — Trofimovsky-2 section, doused them with gasoline and set them on fire, the security forces added. They estimated the amount of damage at 76,123 rubles 65 kopecks.
Kochetkov’s arrest became known on March 20. Initially, it was reported that a case was opened against him and another detainee for intentional damage to property (Part 2 of Article 167 of the Criminal Code) — this part of the article carries a penalty of up to five years in prison. Article about sabotage — up to 20 years in prison.
“In the group, I wrote to a person following an advertisement that I was looking for a job in Saratov. He wrote that he had work to do — damaging property — and sent a photo of what needed to be damaged. These were cabinets near the railway,” Kochetkov told FSB officers during interrogation.
The branches are burning. Sabotage on railways and prosecution for them — in the updated infographics of Mediazona
The number of defendants in criminal cases of sabotage on railways by October reached 137 people, Mediazona calculated. There are fewer cases themselves — only 76, in many cases there are several accused in one case.