In Rostov-on-Don, a gasoline reseller from occupied Melitopol was detained. The fire that erupted in his van destroyed more than 20 vehicles

The Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation reported that a 43-year-old resident of Melitopol was detained. According to investigators, after his van caught fire at a gas station, he drove it into a residential courtyard, where the fire spread to dozens of cars. A criminal case has been opened against the man for intentional destruction or damage to property.
According to the police, the fire started on the premises of a gas station, where a Ford Transit van loaded with fuel containers caught fire. After that, the driver drove into a residential courtyard, where the flames spread to parked vehicles. As reported by Mediazona, 161.ru, and the Rostov Glavny Telegram channel, more than 20 cars were burned, as well as a transformer substation and a Wildberries pickup point.
During police questioning, the detainee stated that he had arrived from Melitopol to buy gasoline for subsequent resale. According to him, while refueling, one of the containers caught fire, after which he tried to extinguish the flames and drive the vehicle away, but was unable to control the spread of the fire. Panicked, the man fled the scene.

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  • tal@lemmy.todayEnglish
    3·
    5 days ago

    A criminal case has been opened against the man for intentional destruction or damage to property.

    Unless Russia has some sort of legal technicality that upgrades a crime to being intentional (like the murder felony rule in the US, where normally murder requires intent as an element, but there are cases where a killing can become upgraded to murder without that intent), I’d think that it’d be tough to prove. I mean, it sounds like the guy said that he severely dicked up and then just ran off. That sounds more plausible to me than that he planned to set his van on fire and then drove it, flaming, to somewhere that he wanted to do damage.

    You could maybe get him with some crime that involved reckless disregard for whatever he destroyed, but unless Russian law works differently from the US, that’s a different bar from deliberate intent.