Teenage girl detained in St. Petersburg on suspicion of setting two police cars on fire
In St. Petersburg, police have detained a teenage girl on suspicion of setting fire to police cars outside a station on Marata Street, a source told the news outlet Fontanka.
In the city of St. Petersburg, authorities arrested a teenage girl on September 20, 2025, for allegedly setting two police cars ablaze near Marata Street. The incident, captured on surveillance cameras, shows a woman in white coveralls approaching the vehicles, dousing them with something, igniting them, and fleeing the scene. Police apprehended the suspect during a subsequent arson attempt targeting traffic police vehicles in the Vyborgsky district.
The 15-year-old girl was brought in for questioning, and a criminal case has been initiated, though the specific charge remains undisclosed. This is not the first time Russian teenagers have been involved in arson or sabotage; according to Mediazona, at least 240 teenagers have been detained in similar circumstances since the beginning of the war in May 2026.
In most of these cases, the motive was financial gain, with 205 teenagers allegedly driven by the prospect of easy money. Sixteen teenagers were manipulated into committing arson by scammers, while five claimed opposition to the war. The remaining cases saw unclear motives. It is worth noting that teenagers often discover such offers online, which are commonly associated with scams, and are sometimes advertised by Ukrainian and Russian security services.
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