A Russian court sentenced a former SBU officer and a former emergency services officer to 19 years in prison each for setting fire to a city administration building last fall, Russian media reported Monday. The Moscow Times.

The former driver of the National Guard of the Russian Federation (Rosgvardii) Roman Nasriev and the officer of the Ministry of Emergency Situations Oleksiy Nuriev were found guilty of conspiracy to commit arson “with the aim of destabilizing the activities of authorities” and “preparation for the purpose of terrorist activity”.

On October 11, 2022, two men threw a Molotov cocktail into an administrative building in the city of Bakal, Chelyabinsk region, as a sign of protest against the war in Ukraine and “partial” mobilization from Russia.

The military commissariat is located in the building of the city administration.

The two men were detained by the Federal Security Service (FSB) shortly after the building was set on fire, and the security guard was able to quickly put out the fire.

According to Russian law enforcement agencies, the two men are members of “several dozen left-wing and far-right Internet communities, including pro-Ukrainian-nationalist ones.”

A fire would paralyze mobilization efforts at this location

During the trial of the two men, commission official Bakal said that a fire started by a Molotov cocktail could have burned the registers, in which about 4,000 people were registered, which would have nullified the mobilization efforts of the local authorities.

On Friday, state prosecutors asked for 19 years in prison for Nasriev and Nuriev.

A court in Yekaterinburg granted the request on Monday, sentencing them to four years in prison, followed by 15 years in a maximum-security penitentiary.