Butoshin Dmitriy Aleksandrovich

In late September 2024, the FSB announced the detention of six Russians in the Irkutsk, Nizhny Novgorod, and Samara regions on charges of arson on railways. Three of those detained are minors. According to security forces, young people participated in arson attacks on cellular towers for payment, receiving these assignments in Telegram on the instructions of Ukrainian special services. In Irkutsk, three teenagers aged 15 to 17 were detained - Ivan Naydenov, Tamirlan Khayrulov, and Zakhar Shmatko. It is alleged that they first burned down the television tower in Svirsk. September 17, 2024, they set fire to the cabinet of the fire station (electricity meter) on the stretch between the railway stations of Irkutsk-Sortirovochny and Akadem. The third task was to burn an airplane at the airfield in the village of Sredny in the Usolsky District, but they considered it too dangerous and refused. During the interrogation, the teenagers allegedly "confessed" that they received assignments from their curator through a messenger. All actions were filmed on camera, the recording was sent as evidence. Payments were made to them in cryptocurrency. Their rewards ranged from 10 to 15 thousand rubles. A criminal case of terrorism was opened against the teenagers. The defendants in the case were placed under arrest. On July 5, 2024, two people were detained in the village of Novinki in Nizhny Novgorod, one of them being a minor. The second detainee is Dmitry Butoshin, a 31-year-old native of the Ivanovo region. Footage of his detention shows signs of beating. During the interrogation, Dmitry said that unknown persons offered him to make explosives for 'more serious projects' - blowing up trains and cisterns - after the arson of towers. Butoshina was arrested on July 6 - the day after her detention. A month before that, in June 2024, Butoshin was fined under the article on petty hooliganism, and he was present at the court hearing via video conferencing. Butoshina and the second teenager were accused of treason. July 6, 2024, the Nizhegorodsky District Court of Nizhny Novgorod sent both men to a pre-trial detention center. Nothing is known about the sixth defendant. Other detainees in the video said that they set fire to cell towers for a reward, including in Zhigulyovsk, Samara region.