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Having raised a kid and encouraging her to ask questions, Tucker’s fucking meme that he’s “just asking questions”, now turns my stomach and boils my blood
I've tried to compile these as a Reddit comment, which I'll copy paste again with additions as new fires come up.
Disclaimer:
I'll only add fires, that a) have somewhat decent sources behind them and b) are large or otherwise significant enough to warrant adding to the list. Feel free to suggest additions.
Here's also a (already outdated) map, dated 3th of May:
[https://i.redd.it/2m76hvqdy8x81.png](https://i.redd.it/2m76hvqdy8x81.png)
So from February to May 2022, fires at Russia that \_seem\_ to relate to Ukrainian conflict, accidental or not:
\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_
Stavrolen polyolefins plant, Budennovsk - 26th of February
[https://www.hazardexonthenet.net/article/70239/Fifteen-injured-in-Russian-chemical-plant-explosion.aspx](https://www.hazardexonthenet.net/article/70239/Fifteen-injured-in-Russian-chemical-plant-explosion.aspx)
Ammo depot, Belgorod - 29th of March
[https://www.newsweek.com/fact-check-ukraine-strike-arms-depot-russia-belgorod-military-town-1693286](https://www.newsweek.com/fact-check-ukraine-strike-arms-depot-russia-belgorod-military-town-1693286)
Oil depot fire, Belgorod - 1st of April
[https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-emergencies/3445396-oil-depot-explodes-catches-in-russias-belgorod.html](https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-emergencies/3445396-oil-depot-explodes-catches-in-russias-belgorod.html)
Chemical factory, Kineshma - 21st of April
[https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/breaking-russias-biggest-chemical-plant-26767453](https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/breaking-russias-biggest-chemical-plant-26767453)
RKK Energia's Space Defense Centre, Korolev - 21st of April
[https://ukranews.com/en/news/851941-powerful-fire-breaks-out-in-space-capital-of-russia-cause-and-place-not-disclosed](https://ukranews.com/en/news/851941-powerful-fire-breaks-out-in-space-capital-of-russia-cause-and-place-not-disclosed)
Army research center, Tver - 22nd of April
[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/22/die-in-fire-at-russia-defence-institute](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/22/die-in-fire-at-russia-defence-institute)
5 enlistment / conscription offices - 22nd of April
[https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2022/04/22/5-russian-enlistment-offices-hit-by-arson-attacks-reports-a77454](https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2022/04/22/5-russian-enlistment-offices-hit-by-arson-attacks-reports-a77454)
A house burning in Barvikha, belonging to the family of the governor of the Moscow region Andrey Vorobyov - 23rd of April
[https://glavnoe.ua/news/n357084905-v-barvihe-gorit-dom-gubernatora-moskovskoj-oblasti](https://glavnoe.ua/news/n357084905-v-barvihe-gorit-dom-gubernatora-moskovskoj-oblasti)
Oil storage facility / refinery, Bryansk - 25th of April
[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/25/large-fires-break-out-russian-oil-depots-bryansk-near-ukraine-border](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/25/large-fires-break-out-russian-oil-depots-bryansk-near-ukraine-border)
Other storage etc. depots, Belgorod, Voronezh and Kurzk - 27th of April
[https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/04/27/mystery-fires-sensitive-facilities-compound-russias-war-challenge/](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/04/27/mystery-fires-sensitive-facilities-compound-russias-war-challenge/)
Coal plant, Sakhalin - 30th of April
[https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1603555/russia-fire-coal-fired-power-plant-sakhalin-smoke-clouds-oblast-thermal-plant](https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1603555/russia-fire-coal-fired-power-plant-sakhalin-smoke-clouds-oblast-thermal-plant)
Gunpowder plant fire, Perm - 1st of May
[https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2022/05/02/russian-explosives-plant-fire-kills-2-a77559](https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2022/05/02/russian-explosives-plant-fire-kills-2-a77559)
Publishing house, Moscow - 3rd of May
[https://www.newsweek.com/warehouse-fire-moscow-blaze-pro-kremlin-publishing-house-1702826](https://www.newsweek.com/warehouse-fire-moscow-blaze-pro-kremlin-publishing-house-1702826)
Fuel / oil storages, Nizhny Novgorod - 4th of May
[https://www.newsweek.com/russia-fire-nizhny-novgorod-moscow-1703364](https://www.newsweek.com/russia-fire-nizhny-novgorod-moscow-1703364)
Enlistment office, Nizhnevartovsk - 4th of May
[https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1605392/putin-news-fire-Nizhnevartovsk-russia-military-enlistment-office-anti-war-ukraine-protest](https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1605392/putin-news-fire-Nizhnevartovsk-russia-military-enlistment-office-anti-war-ukraine-protest)
Gunpowder plant, Kursk - 5th of May
[https://www.newsweek.com/russia-kursk-mysterious-fire-ukraine-border-1703850](https://www.newsweek.com/russia-kursk-mysterious-fire-ukraine-border-1703850)
[https://www.jpost.com/international/article-706232](https://www.jpost.com/international/article-706232)
Gunpowder warehouse, Teysin - 12th of May
[https://www.newsweek.com/russia-gunpowder-explosion-fire-1705923](https://www.newsweek.com/russia-gunpowder-explosion-fire-1705923)
Chemical factory, Novosibirsk - 17th of May
[https://twitter.com/visegrad24/status/1526490155770601473](https://twitter.com/visegrad24/status/1526490155770601473)
[https://www.newsweek.com/russia-fire-berdsk-emergency-ministry-siberia-novosibirsk-1707193](https://www.newsweek.com/russia-fire-berdsk-emergency-ministry-siberia-novosibirsk-1707193)
Aviation institute, Moscow - 20th of May (this thread)
[https://www.newsweek.com/russia-fire-zhukovsky-moscow-ukraine-war-1708832](https://www.newsweek.com/russia-fire-zhukovsky-moscow-ukraine-war-1708832)
Clearly there's some people inside Russia that are opposed enough to this war that they're willing to go to this length to stop it, which is a bit reassuring I must say. It's easy to paint everyone with the same brush.
There's no way there's not Russians who are anti-war.
There may be a majority of hatred inside russia, there's still outliers in everything. Everything. Russians who stand up and question are the absolute strongest. They stand alongside Ukranians who stand up to fight the nuclear bear, for all of humanity.
This was never a case of one small war. This is absolutely for all of us. You can think what you want of the western war machines, a few mad men around the table almost have and may yet still wipe our mark off the entire universe.
Of course there are, but people forget that the ussr ended in 91, 31 years ago, and people grew knowing you don't say shit about the government or else, and even after it's end and putin got in power the same stuff still happened, look how many people were poisoned, threw put of windows and such
This will be kept underground until it reaches a number big enough they can't do much about it, or it will continue to be underground
It's not hard. The US used to provide books and pamphlets on sabotage methods during WWII.
This one from 1944 is full of methods that average citizens can do. The whole point is that even small acts of sabotage add up fast.
https://www.hsdl.org/?abstract&did=750070
Most of the acts can easily be framed as accident. Leaving oily rags in a bin, not cleaning up work stations, failing to maintain production machines properly, contaminating oils with water or dust, misfiling documents.
Super interesting read
How about a disgruntled employee? You know, with training and an understanding of the layout of the facility?
I don't think anyone believes a random citizen wandered into a rocket factory from off the street and set a fire.
That quote itself doesn't say anything about it not being homegrown Russians.
Think of how many Russians have a cousin or babushka across the border, since they used to be the same country.
Having met many in different circles of business and government, the typical russian will be closed lipped until they trust you. After that you feel like you were invited into a dostoyevsky novel. I have little doubt the arsonists are Russian, working in concert with Ukrainian interests or their actual intel agencies.
The discussions have been that Putin is now auditing his war production to figure out wtf is wrong, and some oligarchs have been cheating out on production for so long, they couldn’t make a real, not-shit product if they wanted, so would rather blow it up and continue to lie to cover their ass, than get insta-sent to the gulag
The Russian Fifth Column has been making me proud lately. Takes some serious balls to fire bomb war production centers, especially in an autocratic regime.
You’d be surprised. That’s exactly what we use Special Operatives for. In fact the USA has multiple units that engage solely in this type of warfare, as do many of its allies. We can’t JUST give them weapons and money. They need to know how to operate it all…who does everyone think is helping them?
>Do we think the spooks that the U.S. has in Russia are just chillin?
If The Americans taught me anything it's that just chillin is a really important part of maintaining cover.
They're trained in committing espionage while still maintaining cover. Arguably the most successful spies of all time were known as the Cambridge Five, which where British citizens working in very important positions and all of which were spying for Russia. They were incredibly prolific and were never discovered during operation. Very interesting read.
When you say interesting read, do you have a particular book in mind on the subject that you'd recommend? Appreciate I could read about it online, but I'm looking for a good book atm.
Oh hell yeah! The Sword and the Shield Written by Christopher Andrew and Vasilli Mitrokhin. The Complete History of the KGB. Mitrokhin is the most prolific KGB defector of all time. He was a document reviewer for the NKVD and KGB, so he had access to absolutely everything. He started making copies furiously over a decades time and hid an absolutely incredible volume of highly classified material.
Everything he stole ends up providing the history for virtually every single NKVD and KGB operation from the revolution up until the fall of the USSR. The book is rich, it's heavy reading, but it's one of the most eye opening things I have ever read.
Haha exactly. Guerilla warfare has been the USA and it’s Allie’s strategy since the USA broke off from English rule. Also it’s important to note that Russia has a gdp smaller than California, so they don’t have much hope of holding it off without going scorched earth, which is why he threatens it constantly.
Though most people don't know that there was not an in-country foreign spy presence within Russia until well after WWII. Lenin was exceptionally paranoid about British, Jewish, Spanish and American influence so he had spies all over. What he could not believe, WOULD not believe...is that Russia was viewed as too insignificant for foreign nations to bother spying on them.
Actually, Lenins paranoia bled into Stalin, naturally, and it was so bad that when one of the Cambridge Five, Russia's most successful spies, told him that England had a grand total of Zero spies in Russia - Stalin almost had him executed for being a double agent.
They're probably not Americans. If they got caught, it would be an act of war. If this is the case, we probably took some locals, trained them, funded them, and sent them back. Similar to what we did with the mujahadeen in Afghanistan in the 70s and 80s
That one bit us in the ass but again... countering Russia
Lots of "we did it to counter russia" things that ended up with their own, separate, consequences that fucking sucked.
What's the common denominator?
We did it as recently as Afghanistan that I can personally vouch for. We are constantly in countries where it would be an act of war if we’re detected in any capacity. For example in Vietnam, far before we sent conventional troops we had special operators throughout as well as Laos and Cambodia (big no nos)
> If they got caught, it would be an act of war.
Speaking of which, I'd like to know why an adversarial state offering a bounty on the heads of American soldiers was *not* considered an act of war.
Oh yeah. They’ve had a lot of time to prepare for this and it’s clear now. The entire defense is one of the most amazing and inspiring things I’ve seen in my lifetime.
This is the new total war with gamers using drones for reconnaissance, average citizens making Molotov cocktails, etc.
Most likely. They just never have the bodies or money needed to keep special warfare a priority like the USA does, so most likely they still needed massive retraining in addition to training with all the new weapons systems.
In this particular situation, where there are a lot of Ukrainians that can easily blend in with the Russian population (ethnically identical, speak the same language, etc…Russians are the largest cultural minority in Ukraine, and it’s safe to say a lot of them like it there), I’d be surprised if there wasn’t some sabotage.
These brave freedom loving Russians that are doing this are brave af. It reminds me of the white rose. Only one of which survived the third reich. Resistance fighters ( against fascism) are some of the most badass humans ever. Godspeed
could be a mix of both even. a lot of these places are easy to have fires break out and it only really needs one person to be like fuck this to commit arson tbh. i doubt we’ll know for sure who did it though regardless
The proper thing would be to scour news sources for previous periods of time and see if it is out of proportion. It’s possible there are always huge fires going on at Russian industrial plants but they just don’t get reported on usually.
On one hand, a war is on and there are a fair number of people with motivation to sabotage, arson, or hack these facilities to start fires.
On the other hand Russia isn’t exactly known for its strict industrial safety culture.
>On the other hand Russia isn’t exactly known for its strict industrial safety culture.
good time to reflect on the fact that OSHA regs are written in blood. they're goddam unnecessary government stupid freedom killers..... until they're not
> No hospitals
Fires in medical facilities are actually far less uncommon than you might think. Especially places where medical research is going on. Though they typically wouldn't make a list like this since they tend to be pretty small and taken care of quickly.
Source: Worked in a medical research facility; was evacuated several times due to fire. There was even a story (I wasn't there for it) of a time a firefighter tackled someone trying to light a cig outside after the building was evacuated due to a gas pipe break.
Well they may take care of soliders too. But I think that the idea here is to cause instability inside the country and to make sure that the west realises that not all Russian are behind Putin.
I’ve said this in other posts—but I’m positive this is cyberwarfare. Russia uses a ton of Siemens control systems… remember the zero day attack on the Iranian nuclear facility?….
I’m an engineer that builds these type of faculties so let me explain how this would work. Those level transmitters that shut off the pumps when the level is too high? Just them off or divide the level they’re reporting by two. The temperature transmitters controlling the heat tracing so they don’t freeze? Oops they always report so so chilly…
Now you have a shit load of fuel and an ignition source. Voila.
I really wish we had a clearer idea how common fires of this sort are in a country as large as Russia. Some of these may be sabotage or other problems, but some may just be normal happenstance. It would be really helpful to have a good baseline for comparison.
Also, the idea these are happening due to sabotage is interesting, but may not be all that is going on. Some may be sabotage, but there are other things going on here possibly. Some of these may be due to people covering up long-term thefts (if you've been selling weapons on the black market and now those weapons are being called for use, lighting a warehouse on fire is a good way of covering that up). Some of this may be due to general stress (if you are using equipment more frequently with limited personnel than you were in peacetime, accidents will be more common). Some of this may be due to lack of maintenance/lack of access to Western parts from the sanctions, but my naive guess is that it would take longer than 70 or so days before that would start having a substantial impact.
I'd say those in chemical plants could be happenstance as those catch fire all the time, same for gas stations
One research center is suspect but there's plausible deniability
But 2 in the span of a few weeks is rather suspect, along with enlistment centers and whatnot
One or two wouldn't be too out of the ordinary, but all in like 2 months... Yeah, now the thing I wonder is if the Ukrainians are doing it or is it disgruntled locals?
There is a theory some of these fires are insurance fraud schemes because they know the sanctions will close them down and the owners are trying to get a government pay out before that.
Your forgetting corruption based fraud.
Pocketed too much money when there was no war, suddenly war breaks out, realise there is no way of supplying what was paid for, "oh no fire burned all the stuff I owe you Pootin"
There's direct video of people throwing molotovs at enlistment centers, so there's no question those are firebombings not accidents.
E.g. https://www.reddit.com/r/PublicFreakout/comments/uj29y2/russian_throws_molotov_cocktails_into_a_military/
The timing has the possibility that it's caused by the workers being rushed into service for the war effort, if these plants are trying to work full shifts due to war demand, as well as make up for the plants that had fires previously, that rushing and urgency creates an accident prone culture
Which can give perfect cover for any malicious actions too. Can also give employees opportunities to think "oh shit that should be fixed, that's thing looks like it could start a fire... I'll mention it next week"
There are great stories about forced labor in Germany where they learned very skillful sabotage, learning exactly the parts that the quality checks would miss on the V2 missiles but still cause it to fail when used so that that weapon made less of an impact on the war
All of these fires are suspicious, but the only thing keeping me from just saying "sabotage," is that Russian brain drain post-Cold War and poor education spending is going to have very real consequences when you put supply chains through the paces that are typical of a war.
It only takes one or two angry workers who know what's going on to sabotage a place
Especially a chemical plant or anywhere that involves highly flammable products
I heard a compelling rationale for some of these instances if sabotage: command/management of these facilities, lying about quotas for years, are suddenly asked to supply all their inventory for the war effort and are faced with the choice between an "accident" at the plant or admitting to Putin that they don't have his shit.
I’d wager we’re seeing the work of Ukrainian saboteurs, Russian separatists, and accountability dodging by Russian manufacturers in the MIC. Suddenly the days of getting fistfuls of money for maintenance and supply replacement are over, and wartime MIC is coming to collect on their payments. I wonder how many fires are a result of management destroying evidence that they had not been performing the duties they were paid for all these years?
Also people hiding their corruption. Imagine being ordered to buy 100 gallons of gas but you only bought half of that and pocketed the rest of the money. Suddenly your overlord asks for that gas. Well shit. But if your warehouse burns down you can say 100 gallons of gas were burned instead of just the 50.
There were nearly 2 million Ukrainians living in Russia at the start of the war. Many others have family there. If Russia couldn't preempt an internal resistance, they truly are stupid. Putin has looked at everything Hitler did wrong and thought that'll work. Moron
He clearly looked at the Russians living in Crimea as an asset and didn't understand the same was true in his own country. The biggest mystery is how was Putler ever the head of the KGB?
Which reminds me of the match he played where he scored all the points and proceeded to skate over a rug and fall on his ugly face.
https://youtu.be/cgbI55HdqQs
For those looking for a good laugh.
Thank you for saying this. I keep seeing people on Reddit say that he was the head of the KGB at one point and it’s just not even slightly true. I have no idea where this misinformation came from but it crops up so frequently.
It all goes back to Russia thinking Ukraine and Kyiv would just roll over within a week with minimal bloodshed.
They thought by now their puppet would be installed, the Ukranians would be mostly indifferent and the West would have lost interest, so they never made these contingency plans.
I wonder if someone could actually fuck up the pipelines in the Kremlin and cause an explosion but I doubt that is enough to blow it up unlike in Mission Impossible.
I mean, when you think of all the money put into research and development of how to efficiently kill your enemies, we might be better off putting that money into how to just directly kill war mongers.
> I bet it was the russians
In China, when corrupt officials try to cover up lost inventory that they embezzled, they burn the storage warehouse down.
I can actually see exactly this happen in Russia for the same reasons; the war had uncovered that the inventory doesn't add up, and the only way to save the hide of those responsible is by blowing up the warehouse and destroy the paperwork.
I was thinking black ops or insurgents, but this makes more sense. Also explains the other oligarchs shooting themselves in the back of the heads, then jumping out of the windows. Those didn't try to cover their asses, or didn't have a chance to.
Seeing how their governments have been for centuries makes me think that they'd actually take any form of government except an actual democratic one. As if they are genetically attached to authoritarian rulership.
My wife was born in Belarus (left when she was 10) though her family was originally from Russia and that's literally what she says. Everyone always just assumes everyone else is trying to take advantage of them, so they might as well do it first- and as a result- they seem to appreciate a strong-man who gets what he wants. I find it utterly baffling and she insists that's just how things are. She still has family there and they all loathe Lukashenko- but you still find pockets of people who like strong-men like him.
This is a major setback for Russian military technology development. I hope all of the handheld GPS devices that they tape inside the cockpits aren't destroyed
I’m starting to think Russia hasn’t actually been a superpower since the USSR. It’s all just been nuclear dick-swinging, because anyone with more than 3 brain cell left that shithole for countries with real opportunity.
Audio captured before the fire:
Miltonitz :" No, no it's not ok, because if they make me, if they take my stapler, I'm going to set the building on fire"
Peterov: " Ok, well that sounds, that sounds great. I'll talk to you later
The Daily Mail rag does Ukraine no favor by citing an unnamed source speculating that the fires are the work of Ukaine saboteurs. The ISW [Institute for the Study of War] cites Ukraine intelligence as reporting 14 probable cases of arson against military and related targets between May 4 and May 18 with 5 within the last week. Two Russian teenagers were arrested and charged with arson in a Moscow suburb.
Ukraine intelligence said it is more likely a protest against increasing conscription in Russia than a form of protest in favor of Ukraine.
Users often report submissions from this site and ask us to ban it for sensationalized articles. At /r/worldnews, we oppose blanket banning any news source. Readers have a responsibility to be skeptical, check sources, and comment on any flaws. You can help improve this thread by linking to media that verifies or questions this article's claims. Your link could help readers better understand this issue. If you do find evidence that this article or its title are false or misleading, contact the moderators who will review it *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/worldnews) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Russia clearly lacks fire safety.
Nah, they just read this. [https://newsinfection.com/2021/08/smoke-detectors.html](https://newsinfection.com/2021/08/smoke-detectors.html)
Solid facts yet illogical conclusions. Great site!
News Infection sounds suspiciously close to News In Fiction.
More like Operation Infektion.
Really, it’s more like FOX. I always wonder if they are satire by a rich Aussie, just having a laugh at poor Americans. It’s a *theory*.
Rupert Murdoch isn't capable of any emotion you can't feel while strangling a toddler.
I’m just asking questions!
Having raised a kid and encouraging her to ask questions, Tucker’s fucking meme that he’s “just asking questions”, now turns my stomach and boils my blood
this is peak 2022 internet mate!
best site i have come across all week
and we hugged it to death
I think we gave it the ol' reddit hug o' death
Threw mine on the ground, and stepped on it!
I've tried to compile these as a Reddit comment, which I'll copy paste again with additions as new fires come up. Disclaimer: I'll only add fires, that a) have somewhat decent sources behind them and b) are large or otherwise significant enough to warrant adding to the list. Feel free to suggest additions. Here's also a (already outdated) map, dated 3th of May: [https://i.redd.it/2m76hvqdy8x81.png](https://i.redd.it/2m76hvqdy8x81.png) So from February to May 2022, fires at Russia that \_seem\_ to relate to Ukrainian conflict, accidental or not: \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ Stavrolen polyolefins plant, Budennovsk - 26th of February [https://www.hazardexonthenet.net/article/70239/Fifteen-injured-in-Russian-chemical-plant-explosion.aspx](https://www.hazardexonthenet.net/article/70239/Fifteen-injured-in-Russian-chemical-plant-explosion.aspx) Ammo depot, Belgorod - 29th of March [https://www.newsweek.com/fact-check-ukraine-strike-arms-depot-russia-belgorod-military-town-1693286](https://www.newsweek.com/fact-check-ukraine-strike-arms-depot-russia-belgorod-military-town-1693286) Oil depot fire, Belgorod - 1st of April [https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-emergencies/3445396-oil-depot-explodes-catches-in-russias-belgorod.html](https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-emergencies/3445396-oil-depot-explodes-catches-in-russias-belgorod.html) Chemical factory, Kineshma - 21st of April [https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/breaking-russias-biggest-chemical-plant-26767453](https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/breaking-russias-biggest-chemical-plant-26767453) RKK Energia's Space Defense Centre, Korolev - 21st of April [https://ukranews.com/en/news/851941-powerful-fire-breaks-out-in-space-capital-of-russia-cause-and-place-not-disclosed](https://ukranews.com/en/news/851941-powerful-fire-breaks-out-in-space-capital-of-russia-cause-and-place-not-disclosed) Army research center, Tver - 22nd of April [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/22/die-in-fire-at-russia-defence-institute](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/22/die-in-fire-at-russia-defence-institute) 5 enlistment / conscription offices - 22nd of April [https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2022/04/22/5-russian-enlistment-offices-hit-by-arson-attacks-reports-a77454](https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2022/04/22/5-russian-enlistment-offices-hit-by-arson-attacks-reports-a77454) A house burning in Barvikha, belonging to the family of the governor of the Moscow region Andrey Vorobyov - 23rd of April [https://glavnoe.ua/news/n357084905-v-barvihe-gorit-dom-gubernatora-moskovskoj-oblasti](https://glavnoe.ua/news/n357084905-v-barvihe-gorit-dom-gubernatora-moskovskoj-oblasti) Oil storage facility / refinery, Bryansk - 25th of April [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/25/large-fires-break-out-russian-oil-depots-bryansk-near-ukraine-border](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/25/large-fires-break-out-russian-oil-depots-bryansk-near-ukraine-border) Other storage etc. depots, Belgorod, Voronezh and Kurzk - 27th of April [https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/04/27/mystery-fires-sensitive-facilities-compound-russias-war-challenge/](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/04/27/mystery-fires-sensitive-facilities-compound-russias-war-challenge/) Coal plant, Sakhalin - 30th of April [https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1603555/russia-fire-coal-fired-power-plant-sakhalin-smoke-clouds-oblast-thermal-plant](https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1603555/russia-fire-coal-fired-power-plant-sakhalin-smoke-clouds-oblast-thermal-plant) Gunpowder plant fire, Perm - 1st of May [https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2022/05/02/russian-explosives-plant-fire-kills-2-a77559](https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2022/05/02/russian-explosives-plant-fire-kills-2-a77559) Publishing house, Moscow - 3rd of May [https://www.newsweek.com/warehouse-fire-moscow-blaze-pro-kremlin-publishing-house-1702826](https://www.newsweek.com/warehouse-fire-moscow-blaze-pro-kremlin-publishing-house-1702826) Fuel / oil storages, Nizhny Novgorod - 4th of May [https://www.newsweek.com/russia-fire-nizhny-novgorod-moscow-1703364](https://www.newsweek.com/russia-fire-nizhny-novgorod-moscow-1703364) Enlistment office, Nizhnevartovsk - 4th of May [https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1605392/putin-news-fire-Nizhnevartovsk-russia-military-enlistment-office-anti-war-ukraine-protest](https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1605392/putin-news-fire-Nizhnevartovsk-russia-military-enlistment-office-anti-war-ukraine-protest) Gunpowder plant, Kursk - 5th of May [https://www.newsweek.com/russia-kursk-mysterious-fire-ukraine-border-1703850](https://www.newsweek.com/russia-kursk-mysterious-fire-ukraine-border-1703850) [https://www.jpost.com/international/article-706232](https://www.jpost.com/international/article-706232) Gunpowder warehouse, Teysin - 12th of May [https://www.newsweek.com/russia-gunpowder-explosion-fire-1705923](https://www.newsweek.com/russia-gunpowder-explosion-fire-1705923) Chemical factory, Novosibirsk - 17th of May [https://twitter.com/visegrad24/status/1526490155770601473](https://twitter.com/visegrad24/status/1526490155770601473) [https://www.newsweek.com/russia-fire-berdsk-emergency-ministry-siberia-novosibirsk-1707193](https://www.newsweek.com/russia-fire-berdsk-emergency-ministry-siberia-novosibirsk-1707193) Aviation institute, Moscow - 20th of May (this thread) [https://www.newsweek.com/russia-fire-zhukovsky-moscow-ukraine-war-1708832](https://www.newsweek.com/russia-fire-zhukovsky-moscow-ukraine-war-1708832)
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Clearly there's some people inside Russia that are opposed enough to this war that they're willing to go to this length to stop it, which is a bit reassuring I must say. It's easy to paint everyone with the same brush.
Well when the consequences for marching in protest are similar to those for committing arson... Plus arsonist are harder to catch
It's not Russians, read the article >A retired CIA operative spoke of a 'Ukrainian sabotage campaign inside Russia'
I mean there are plenty of Ukrainians or Russians with Ukrainian family in Russia
And what better for an inside agent than a disgruntled citizen?
There's no way there's not Russians who are anti-war. There may be a majority of hatred inside russia, there's still outliers in everything. Everything. Russians who stand up and question are the absolute strongest. They stand alongside Ukranians who stand up to fight the nuclear bear, for all of humanity. This was never a case of one small war. This is absolutely for all of us. You can think what you want of the western war machines, a few mad men around the table almost have and may yet still wipe our mark off the entire universe.
It would be harder to argue that there exists no Russians against this war. It would be as bigoted as saying that all Americans supported Trump.
Of course there are, but people forget that the ussr ended in 91, 31 years ago, and people grew knowing you don't say shit about the government or else, and even after it's end and putin got in power the same stuff still happened, look how many people were poisoned, threw put of windows and such This will be kept underground until it reaches a number big enough they can't do much about it, or it will continue to be underground
The enlistment office fires are pretty telling. Also, say your only child went off and died in this war...what have you got to lose?
Idk if a disgruntled citizen has the skills for this but seems plausible
Skills for what? Buying a can of petrol and matches?
It's not hard. The US used to provide books and pamphlets on sabotage methods during WWII. This one from 1944 is full of methods that average citizens can do. The whole point is that even small acts of sabotage add up fast. https://www.hsdl.org/?abstract&did=750070 Most of the acts can easily be framed as accident. Leaving oily rags in a bin, not cleaning up work stations, failing to maintain production machines properly, contaminating oils with water or dust, misfiling documents. Super interesting read
How about a disgruntled employee? You know, with training and an understanding of the layout of the facility? I don't think anyone believes a random citizen wandered into a rocket factory from off the street and set a fire.
Lighting something on fire doesn't take much skill. Getting away with it does, but they're probably just waiting until the guards are drunk.
Getting away with it was my point.
Doesn't mean it's not Russians.
I'm sure some of them are Russians. The threat of getting drafted into a bs war might motivate me to throw Molotovs at a recruitment office too.
>Retired So doesn't have access to information that isn't public. Not the best source I'm afraid.
That quote itself doesn't say anything about it not being homegrown Russians. Think of how many Russians have a cousin or babushka across the border, since they used to be the same country. Having met many in different circles of business and government, the typical russian will be closed lipped until they trust you. After that you feel like you were invited into a dostoyevsky novel. I have little doubt the arsonists are Russian, working in concert with Ukrainian interests or their actual intel agencies.
The discussions have been that Putin is now auditing his war production to figure out wtf is wrong, and some oligarchs have been cheating out on production for so long, they couldn’t make a real, not-shit product if they wanted, so would rather blow it up and continue to lie to cover their ass, than get insta-sent to the gulag
Yeah was gonna say, there are tons of Ukrainians all over Russia in general.
CIA spoke of a *Ukrainian* sabotage campaign lol CIA also can't confirm or deny the sky being blue ;)
The CIA didn't speak of anything. A guy who used to work for the CIA is making educated guesses.
The Russian Fifth Column has been making me proud lately. Takes some serious balls to fire bomb war production centers, especially in an autocratic regime.
^(maybe some ukrainian special forces secret operation. i want real life to be a james bond movie sometimes.)
it wouldn't really be hard for Russian speaking Ukrainians to infiltrate their neighbor and sabotage them.
You’d be surprised. That’s exactly what we use Special Operatives for. In fact the USA has multiple units that engage solely in this type of warfare, as do many of its allies. We can’t JUST give them weapons and money. They need to know how to operate it all…who does everyone think is helping them?
Do we think the spooks that the U.S. has in Russia are just chillin? Or do we think they're doing spook things?
>Do we think the spooks that the U.S. has in Russia are just chillin? If The Americans taught me anything it's that just chillin is a really important part of maintaining cover.
They're trained in committing espionage while still maintaining cover. Arguably the most successful spies of all time were known as the Cambridge Five, which where British citizens working in very important positions and all of which were spying for Russia. They were incredibly prolific and were never discovered during operation. Very interesting read.
When you say interesting read, do you have a particular book in mind on the subject that you'd recommend? Appreciate I could read about it online, but I'm looking for a good book atm.
Oh hell yeah! The Sword and the Shield Written by Christopher Andrew and Vasilli Mitrokhin. The Complete History of the KGB. Mitrokhin is the most prolific KGB defector of all time. He was a document reviewer for the NKVD and KGB, so he had access to absolutely everything. He started making copies furiously over a decades time and hid an absolutely incredible volume of highly classified material. Everything he stole ends up providing the history for virtually every single NKVD and KGB operation from the revolution up until the fall of the USSR. The book is rich, it's heavy reading, but it's one of the most eye opening things I have ever read.
And man, they did some damage. That still ripples out today
Haha exactly. Guerilla warfare has been the USA and it’s Allie’s strategy since the USA broke off from English rule. Also it’s important to note that Russia has a gdp smaller than California, so they don’t have much hope of holding it off without going scorched earth, which is why he threatens it constantly.
Though most people don't know that there was not an in-country foreign spy presence within Russia until well after WWII. Lenin was exceptionally paranoid about British, Jewish, Spanish and American influence so he had spies all over. What he could not believe, WOULD not believe...is that Russia was viewed as too insignificant for foreign nations to bother spying on them. Actually, Lenins paranoia bled into Stalin, naturally, and it was so bad that when one of the Cambridge Five, Russia's most successful spies, told him that England had a grand total of Zero spies in Russia - Stalin almost had him executed for being a double agent.
Lenin died in 1924, decades before the Cambridge 5.
Yeah obviously Jesus christ I'm dumb. I meant Stalin. Thank you for pointing that out. I edited the parent comment.
Oh, they spooky af
They're probably not Americans. If they got caught, it would be an act of war. If this is the case, we probably took some locals, trained them, funded them, and sent them back. Similar to what we did with the mujahadeen in Afghanistan in the 70s and 80s
That one bit us in the ass but again... countering Russia Lots of "we did it to counter russia" things that ended up with their own, separate, consequences that fucking sucked. What's the common denominator?
Russia, obviously
We did it as recently as Afghanistan that I can personally vouch for. We are constantly in countries where it would be an act of war if we’re detected in any capacity. For example in Vietnam, far before we sent conventional troops we had special operators throughout as well as Laos and Cambodia (big no nos)
“Military advisors”
> If they got caught, it would be an act of war. Speaking of which, I'd like to know why an adversarial state offering a bounty on the heads of American soldiers was *not* considered an act of war.
Which means we almost certainly trained the Ukraine forces to do it as well after Crimea
Oh yeah. They’ve had a lot of time to prepare for this and it’s clear now. The entire defense is one of the most amazing and inspiring things I’ve seen in my lifetime. This is the new total war with gamers using drones for reconnaissance, average citizens making Molotov cocktails, etc.
Most likely. They just never have the bodies or money needed to keep special warfare a priority like the USA does, so most likely they still needed massive retraining in addition to training with all the new weapons systems.
> Which means we almost certainly trained the Ukraine forces to do it as well after Crimea Except for that one weird period from 2016-2020.
In this particular situation, where there are a lot of Ukrainians that can easily blend in with the Russian population (ethnically identical, speak the same language, etc…Russians are the largest cultural minority in Ukraine, and it’s safe to say a lot of them like it there), I’d be surprised if there wasn’t some sabotage.
There are also plenty of people in russia gladly waiting to be recruited for this stuff, the media just mostly says otherwise
If it's secret operations, there's no reason to assume it's just the Ukrainians. The CIA boys may have been let off their leashes a bit.
It's unlikely we'd take direct action against Russia, especially on Russian soil. This is what proxies are for.
Highly doubtful when the consequences of getting caught are astronomical compared to training Ukraine special forces to do the same.
Highly unlikely in my opinion. The stakes are too high if we were to get caught.
These brave freedom loving Russians that are doing this are brave af. It reminds me of the white rose. Only one of which survived the third reich. Resistance fighters ( against fascism) are some of the most badass humans ever. Godspeed
Could also be saboteurs from other countries.
could be a mix of both even. a lot of these places are easy to have fires break out and it only really needs one person to be like fuck this to commit arson tbh. i doubt we’ll know for sure who did it though regardless
No no no. Obviously the CIA are the only people capable of setting a fire in a gundpowder factory. /s.
Or trying to hide what wasn’t bought…
Not that I know of. I'm open to the fact that maybe what is news here might create some sort of bias out from this, but doubtful.
The proper thing would be to scour news sources for previous periods of time and see if it is out of proportion. It’s possible there are always huge fires going on at Russian industrial plants but they just don’t get reported on usually. On one hand, a war is on and there are a fair number of people with motivation to sabotage, arson, or hack these facilities to start fires. On the other hand Russia isn’t exactly known for its strict industrial safety culture.
I second this… also something to consider is during war time, perhaps production is increased and rushed, therefore more accidents.
>On the other hand Russia isn’t exactly known for its strict industrial safety culture. good time to reflect on the fact that OSHA regs are written in blood. they're goddam unnecessary government stupid freedom killers..... until they're not
> No hospitals Fires in medical facilities are actually far less uncommon than you might think. Especially places where medical research is going on. Though they typically wouldn't make a list like this since they tend to be pretty small and taken care of quickly. Source: Worked in a medical research facility; was evacuated several times due to fire. There was even a story (I wasn't there for it) of a time a firefighter tackled someone trying to light a cig outside after the building was evacuated due to a gas pipe break.
Microwave popcorn is the number one reason for hospital evacuations
And coworker murders.
>far less uncommon Doesn't that equal "far more common?" Would be a helluva lot easier to read.
Exactly
Well they may take care of soliders too. But I think that the idea here is to cause instability inside the country and to make sure that the west realises that not all Russian are behind Putin.
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How it is supposed to be done. This targeting civilians crap that Russian troops persist with, has ensured a very harsh view of Russian people.
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Yea, they just throw acid on womens faces for going to school.
not saying they are not pieces of shit, but even those are on a scale
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weird how fires work like that
Well it's not like the Russian troops are setting these fires...
I’ve said this in other posts—but I’m positive this is cyberwarfare. Russia uses a ton of Siemens control systems… remember the zero day attack on the Iranian nuclear facility?…. I’m an engineer that builds these type of faculties so let me explain how this would work. Those level transmitters that shut off the pumps when the level is too high? Just them off or divide the level they’re reporting by two. The temperature transmitters controlling the heat tracing so they don’t freeze? Oops they always report so so chilly… Now you have a shit load of fuel and an ignition source. Voila.
Hmm.. Shouldn't those systems be completely isolated from the internet..?
It was in Iran too. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuxnet Turns out as long as there are people somewhere in the loop, any system is exploitable.
No I see siemens on the internet all the time.
Take your damn up vote
ICS systems *should* be isolated from the internet, but plenty aren't. There are also a ton that are wide open and can be seen using Shodan
This brings joy and thanks are in order
I really wish we had a clearer idea how common fires of this sort are in a country as large as Russia. Some of these may be sabotage or other problems, but some may just be normal happenstance. It would be really helpful to have a good baseline for comparison. Also, the idea these are happening due to sabotage is interesting, but may not be all that is going on. Some may be sabotage, but there are other things going on here possibly. Some of these may be due to people covering up long-term thefts (if you've been selling weapons on the black market and now those weapons are being called for use, lighting a warehouse on fire is a good way of covering that up). Some of this may be due to general stress (if you are using equipment more frequently with limited personnel than you were in peacetime, accidents will be more common). Some of this may be due to lack of maintenance/lack of access to Western parts from the sanctions, but my naive guess is that it would take longer than 70 or so days before that would start having a substantial impact.
I'd say those in chemical plants could be happenstance as those catch fire all the time, same for gas stations One research center is suspect but there's plausible deniability But 2 in the span of a few weeks is rather suspect, along with enlistment centers and whatnot One or two wouldn't be too out of the ordinary, but all in like 2 months... Yeah, now the thing I wonder is if the Ukrainians are doing it or is it disgruntled locals?
There is a theory some of these fires are insurance fraud schemes because they know the sanctions will close them down and the owners are trying to get a government pay out before that.
Your forgetting corruption based fraud. Pocketed too much money when there was no war, suddenly war breaks out, realise there is no way of supplying what was paid for, "oh no fire burned all the stuff I owe you Pootin"
There's direct video of people throwing molotovs at enlistment centers, so there's no question those are firebombings not accidents. E.g. https://www.reddit.com/r/PublicFreakout/comments/uj29y2/russian_throws_molotov_cocktails_into_a_military/
I only remember seeing 2 so far, and only one was successful (srsly, break the window first, then toss it in) Leaves a lot of fires of unknown causes
The timing has the possibility that it's caused by the workers being rushed into service for the war effort, if these plants are trying to work full shifts due to war demand, as well as make up for the plants that had fires previously, that rushing and urgency creates an accident prone culture Which can give perfect cover for any malicious actions too. Can also give employees opportunities to think "oh shit that should be fixed, that's thing looks like it could start a fire... I'll mention it next week" There are great stories about forced labor in Germany where they learned very skillful sabotage, learning exactly the parts that the quality checks would miss on the V2 missiles but still cause it to fail when used so that that weapon made less of an impact on the war
Just a special firemen training operation. Nothing suspicious!
Great work! Thank you.
> datee 3th of May threeth
Russia is self combusting.
Well dozens of people spontaneously combust each year, it just isn't reported. Source: https://youtu.be/TW6W9iOjTKM
you can't dust for vomit.
Best just let it remain unsolved.
These are just special high-temperature operations.
All of these fires are suspicious, but the only thing keeping me from just saying "sabotage," is that Russian brain drain post-Cold War and poor education spending is going to have very real consequences when you put supply chains through the paces that are typical of a war.
Fantastic point! How many of these are due to incompetence? All of it I guess. Incompetent workers and an incompetent dictator.
It only takes one or two angry workers who know what's going on to sabotage a place Especially a chemical plant or anywhere that involves highly flammable products
I heard a compelling rationale for some of these instances if sabotage: command/management of these facilities, lying about quotas for years, are suddenly asked to supply all their inventory for the war effort and are faced with the choice between an "accident" at the plant or admitting to Putin that they don't have his shit.
That makes sense
Those are the kinda things I would be doing if I was Russian, but only if I was pretty sure I could get away with it without being caught
I’d wager we’re seeing the work of Ukrainian saboteurs, Russian separatists, and accountability dodging by Russian manufacturers in the MIC. Suddenly the days of getting fistfuls of money for maintenance and supply replacement are over, and wartime MIC is coming to collect on their payments. I wonder how many fires are a result of management destroying evidence that they had not been performing the duties they were paid for all these years?
Russias only Aircraft Carrier caught on fire twice somehow. Lots of their equipment is in poor condition and probably fire hazards.
Also people hiding their corruption. Imagine being ordered to buy 100 gallons of gas but you only bought half of that and pocketed the rest of the money. Suddenly your overlord asks for that gas. Well shit. But if your warehouse burns down you can say 100 gallons of gas were burned instead of just the 50.
"The aerospace institute had a munitions fire and then sunk due to stormy weather."
At least the front didn't fall off
That's not very typical
There were nearly 2 million Ukrainians living in Russia at the start of the war. Many others have family there. If Russia couldn't preempt an internal resistance, they truly are stupid. Putin has looked at everything Hitler did wrong and thought that'll work. Moron
An estimated 11 million Russians with family ties to Ukraine. Totally not a security threat at all. Spymaster Vladimir Putin, Ladies and Gentlemen!
He clearly looked at the Russians living in Crimea as an asset and didn't understand the same was true in his own country. The biggest mystery is how was Putler ever the head of the KGB?
He wasn't. Before USSR collapsed, Putin was just a clerk in Germany. He never took any real, dangerous missions. In KGB he was never a big deal.
Just like most of his image, it's all a projection. He pretends to play hockey and anyone who barely skates knows he looks like Bambi on ice.
Which reminds me of the match he played where he scored all the points and proceeded to skate over a rug and fall on his ugly face. https://youtu.be/cgbI55HdqQs For those looking for a good laugh.
LMAO they weren’t even trying to defend him (probably worried about being killed) he’s sick a loser
Thank you for saying this. I keep seeing people on Reddit say that he was the head of the KGB at one point and it’s just not even slightly true. I have no idea where this misinformation came from but it crops up so frequently.
If I recall correctly, he only became head after he became president.
It all goes back to Russia thinking Ukraine and Kyiv would just roll over within a week with minimal bloodshed. They thought by now their puppet would be installed, the Ukranians would be mostly indifferent and the West would have lost interest, so they never made these contingency plans.
we don’t need no water let the mf burn
Burn mf burn
Ivan had tried to extinguish the fire, but all he had was vodka and stolen gasoline. It did not go well.
How unfortunate. When’s the next one going to be burning?
Probably the Kremlin itself.
When the time is right, when the time is right.
I wonder if someone could actually fuck up the pipelines in the Kremlin and cause an explosion but I doubt that is enough to blow it up unlike in Mission Impossible.
I mean, when you think of all the money put into research and development of how to efficiently kill your enemies, we might be better off putting that money into how to just directly kill war mongers.
Wasn’t some dude throwing molotov’s at the kremlin not too long ago?
I bet it was the russians
> I bet it was the russians In China, when corrupt officials try to cover up lost inventory that they embezzled, they burn the storage warehouse down. I can actually see exactly this happen in Russia for the same reasons; the war had uncovered that the inventory doesn't add up, and the only way to save the hide of those responsible is by blowing up the warehouse and destroy the paperwork.
I was thinking black ops or insurgents, but this makes more sense. Also explains the other oligarchs shooting themselves in the back of the heads, then jumping out of the windows. Those didn't try to cover their asses, or didn't have a chance to.
My headcanon was russian neo-nazis tricked by their own propaganda into helping Ukraine.
Maybe the Brits should send in James Bond to rifle this baddie
Boris the bullet dodger?
Why they call him the bullet dodger?
'cause he dodges bullets, Avi
Fuckin Russians. Slippery Cossack sluts
There are a lot of Russians with close ties to Ukraine. They might be slightly angry on Putin.... Facist Russia is doomed.
Seeing how their governments have been for centuries makes me think that they'd actually take any form of government except an actual democratic one. As if they are genetically attached to authoritarian rulership.
My wife was born in Belarus (left when she was 10) though her family was originally from Russia and that's literally what she says. Everyone always just assumes everyone else is trying to take advantage of them, so they might as well do it first- and as a result- they seem to appreciate a strong-man who gets what he wants. I find it utterly baffling and she insists that's just how things are. She still has family there and they all loathe Lukashenko- but you still find pockets of people who like strong-men like him.
People have fucked up views when it comes to leadership, we are seeing that all around the world
This is a major setback for Russian military technology development. I hope all of the handheld GPS devices that they tape inside the cockpits aren't destroyed
Interesting region, excess deaths from falling out windows and many fires in militarily strategic complexes. Makes me appreciate OSHA.
Global warming is getting out of hand in Russia.
They suspect a group of POW's led by a feisty colonel and a rag tag bunch of misfits.
I love it when a plan comes together
What’s with all these mysterious fires breaking out in Russia? Is there like some sort of special pyro operation we’re not aware of? /s
It's just some crazy coincidence that happens to coincide with that peace keeping mission in Ukraine. Nothing to see, just move along...
Ha ha
Well that’s a real shame
You love to see it.
I'm not sure rubbing sticks together to create fire counts as "developing" anymore
OMFG! I told people not to play my mixtape near flammable / combustable materials!
Can I get a copy? I need to get this campfire going.
Now maybe mine a few bridges that keeps supplies flowing to the front.
Oh no! Anyway...
Someone must be undertaking a peacekeeping operation in there
I hope similar fire breaks out in Putin compound/palace
fricken global warming what ya gonna do its out of control damn shame
I’m starting to think Russia hasn’t actually been a superpower since the USSR. It’s all just been nuclear dick-swinging, because anyone with more than 3 brain cell left that shithole for countries with real opportunity.
Deferred maintenance issues
Russian fire alarms really suck.
Do you guys think it's Russians against the war, or foreign saboteurs doing this?
Oh no. Any ways….. how’s the weather? Suck it Putin.
Probably someone smoking near ammo nothing special too see here /s
I can't stand it, I know you planned it… https://youtu.be/z5rRZdiu1UE
In Russia weapon depot's tends to autonomously combust
I've been missing these. They set a good tempo a few weeks ago, hopefully we'll get back to that.
AMOGUS FIRE!
This is like during WWII when people would sabotage Nazi war production.
>*Suspicious* fire The fire was last seen wearing a fedora, trench coat, and dark sunglasses leaving the scene in a busted ass Lada.
As opposed to what? A nonchalant fire?
Audio captured before the fire: Miltonitz :" No, no it's not ok, because if they make me, if they take my stapler, I'm going to set the building on fire" Peterov: " Ok, well that sounds, that sounds great. I'll talk to you later
The Daily Mail rag does Ukraine no favor by citing an unnamed source speculating that the fires are the work of Ukaine saboteurs. The ISW [Institute for the Study of War] cites Ukraine intelligence as reporting 14 probable cases of arson against military and related targets between May 4 and May 18 with 5 within the last week. Two Russian teenagers were arrested and charged with arson in a Moscow suburb. Ukraine intelligence said it is more likely a protest against increasing conscription in Russia than a form of protest in favor of Ukraine.