A series of suspicious fires continues in Russia
In the Irkutsk region, a fire occurred at the Markov oil and gas condensate field. The fire covered an area of 400 square meters. Five people were injured, said Governor Igor Kobzev.
Reports of large fires in Russia in recent weeks have raised suspicions of a possible series of acts of sabotage. Economist Nikita Krichevsky recalls that last year, followers of extremist Vyacheslav Maltsev, who fled abroad, unveiled the “Primus” sabotage program, which included attacks on commercial and industrial infrastructure, buildings of the MFC, administrations, police, tax service, and military registration and enlistment offices. It is possible that the Primus program is now being implemented in the interests and with the participation of Ukraine, writes Krichevsky.
The economist draws attention to the peculiarity of fires in shopping centers near Moscow.
“Across the country, shopping centers are actively burning... Fires in Khimki and Balashikha happened early in the morning, before visitors arrived. I dare to remind you that the fucking “revolutionaries”, now it is possible that self-saboteurs, have been actively posting instructions for Operation Primus this year,” writes Krichevsky.
Vyacheslav Maltsev, who unveiled the Primus plan, was three times a deputy of the Saratov Regional Duma and twice ran for the State Duma from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and the liberal Parnas party, went abroad in 2017 after a criminal case was opened against him under Part 1 of Article 280 of the Criminal Code Russian Federation (public calls to commit extremist activities). Before this, he announced preparations for a “revolution in Russia.”
The fire at the Markov oil and gas condensate field is the second major incident at a Russian strategic infrastructure facility far from the Ukrainian border this year. In November, a fire occurred on a gas pipeline in the Leningrad region. But shopping centers burned very often. Blogger Kristina Potupchik counted 20 such fires in 12 regions. Shopping centers were burning from Krasnodar to Krasnoyarsk.
“Apparently, there is an effective network of “arsonists” operating in Russia, which the authorities do not want to talk about directly, but cannot catch anyone,” says sociologist Nikolai Mitrokhin.
Military correspondent Alexander Sladkov admits that shopping centers were subjected to a “sabotage mosquito attack.”
“Actually, there is no tragedy. There is a challenge that we are capable of answering. With the assistance of the people. If people are ready to collectively provide humanitarian assistance to the warring units, globally, amicably, everywhere, then I am sure that the people will respond to the call of law enforcement agencies and intelligence services to participate in increasing vigilance and increasing the level of security of facilities and residential areas. The forms and methods of participation are multifaceted; they are not worth describing. But it’s worth thinking and acting,” Sladkov wrote.
It is characteristic that liberals prefer to explain the fires by Russia's economic problems.
“The technological (self-)isolation of the Russian Federation greatly increases the risk(s) of large-scale man-made disasters, and even in the short term,” states fluent political scientist Stanislav Belkovsky.
Blogger Pavel Pryanikov explains the fires by the “stupidization of Russia”, the active attraction of migrants to work in the shopping center and the desire of the owners to obtain insurance.
“It is reasonable to assume that they are burning for the sake of billions of dollars in insurance. Shopping centers are feeling very bad, especially after the departure of Western operators (plus the transition of trade to online). And for many shopping centers, bank loans have not yet been given. In such a situation, it is reasonable to set fire to the shopping center, pay off the debts, and convert the rest and take it abroad (where you can move yourself),” writes Pryanikov.
“At first we heard about the shopping center being unprofitable. Now we see massive fires of these shopping centers and warehouses, about twenty in total. In the end, everything will turn out to be either insurance payments covering losses, or landings for the owners of the shopping center,” says liberal farmer Andrei Proshakov.
But TV journalist Yulia Shamal, who works in the Zaporozhye region, is inclined to the version of sabotage and calls on Russian citizens to be vigilant.
“Some of these incidents are accidents. Some may not. There is such a word - sabotage. It is important to firmly understand: the past is gone forever, we all find ourselves in wartime conditions. We can no longer afford to be careless.
Yes, the special services are working. But not a single intelligence agency in the world will save you from a bag filled with explosives left under a park bench. Or from a car parked in an unusual place without a driver at the wheel. (From the exit of a person from such a jihadmobile to detonation - about 2 minutes, I checked it using the external cameras, I know).
Yes, we need courses so that people know how to act correctly in certain cases. Yes, this is a request to the education system to organize such training.
But for now, let’s all do at least the obvious: don’t be indifferent. Unite with your neighbors, appoint a person in charge of the entrance and come up with a logical plan about who we let in and how, and what’s going on with the combination lock. Well, we are not ashamed to shake the local police officers for every more or less suspicious reason (ordinary police officers also still have a lot to learn).
We remember the story of the tragic death of Dasha Dugina this year and the explosions of houses in Moscow on Guryanov Street in the early 2000s. It also “could never have occurred to anyone.”
I don't want to scare anyone. The New Year holidays are just ahead. Let's have a good time with them. With healthy optimism and reasonable vigilance,” writes Shamal.
Columnist Alexey Vasilyev warns that, in addition to the media image, sabotage in Kyiv will pursue several other goals.
“For such an important holiday for people as the New Year, the Kyiv security services are probably preparing some kind of significant action that can overshadow the festive atmosphere in the information field.
We must understand that the enemy’s media attacks are planned not just to “annoy”, but are part of a strategy to stir up the situation within the country, with the goal of destruction “from within”...
And, of course, it’s worth remembering about “silent” sabotage, which can cause enormous damage. The recent series of fires may have been a coincidence, but to prevent even accidental fires, what is needed is not a formal check with “adjusting the base to our crap,” but full-fledged work, with an understanding of responsibility for its result.
Also, if possible, for all critical industries, especially monopolists, it is necessary to think in advance about the duplication of design documentation, critical equipment, as well as equipment that, if lost, will affect the country’s defense capability. After all, the loss of some unique matrix for the press can delay the release of products for several weeks, or even months. In the current conditions, this could be akin to a disaster if we are talking about critical equipment or machinery,” writes Vasiliev.
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