Series of explosions in public places in Russia, phone scammers blamed – videos, photos

Explosives were set off in crowded areas in several Russian cities on Saturday, 21 December. Several suspects have been detained.  

Source: Russian service of Radio Liberty; Russian state-owned news agency TASS; Telegram channels

Details: The Fort shopping centre in northeast Moscow had to be evacuated when an explosion occurred in an integrated government services centre located there. One person was taken to hospital, a woman who tripped and fell during the evacuation, the Mash Telegram channel reports.

Another integrated services centre and a shopping mall were evacuated in Korolyov, as was a post office in Khimki, Moscow Oblast. Several windows shattered and the ceiling caught fire following the explosion at the Helios shopping centre in Korolyov.

Three suspects were detained in Moscow, Korolyov and Khimki. In the first case, a pensioner apparently set off a firecracker, acting on the instructions of people who had extorted 120,000 roubles (approx. US$1,165) from her. In the second case, the 64-year-old suspect is said to have attempted to set off explosives at a police station. The suspect in Khimki is aged 70.

Meanwhile in St Petersburg, two elderly women apparently tried to set fire to a police car at the behest of telephone fraudsters. They have been detained. A criminal investigation has been opened into the attack, TASS reports.

There was also an explosion inside a branch of Sberbank in St Petersburg: according to early reports, an improvised explosive device may have exploded inside an ATM. No injuries were reported. The Mash na Moyke Telegram channel reported that a flammable liquid had been poured into the ATM. The outlet posted video footage from a surveillance camera. The suspect is an elderly woman.

A similar incident occurred in Krasnoyarsk last night according to Sibir.Realii, a Radio Liberty project focused on current affairs in Siberia. The authorities said the suspect in the ATM arson case had been the victim of a telephone scam.

According to the Baza Telegram channel, there have been at least 13 separate cases of arson across Russia in the last two days, involving cars, fireworks and buildings.

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