Russian men accused of planning to damage military train sentenced to 3.5 years in first ‘sabotage’ case since war began

A Belgorod court has sentenced two local men to 3.5 years in prison for allegedly planning to damage a railroad used by Russian military trains, TASS reported on Tuesday, citing the FSB. The ruling marks the first time anybody has been sentenced under Russia’s law against sabotage since the start of the full-scale war in Ukraine last year.

According to Russian intelligence, the suspects were arrested in March 2022 on charges that they planned to “carry out mechanical damage to a section of the railroad” in Belgorod’s Yakovlevsky district before a military train was set to pass through.

The FSB reportedly told TASS that the defendants intended to derail the train, damage military equipment, and cause “casualties among the troops,” and that they planned to upload photos and videos of the incident to the Internet. The agency also accused the men of sending information about Russian servicemen involved in the invasion to the website Myrotvorets, which tracks “enemies of Ukraine.”