Russian scientist accused of sabotaging defense shipments reportedly tries to self-immolate on Red Square

A man attempted to set himself on fire on Red Square in Moscow on Friday, multiple Russian Telegram channels reported.

According to the channel Baza, the man approached Lenin’s Mausoleum, doused himself in flammable liquid, and lit it on fire. Bystanders or police reportedly put the fire out quickly, and the man received only minor burns.

The channel Mash and the newspaper Moskovsky Komsomolets identified the man as 74-year-old Vladimir Arsenyev, the head of the Volna Central Research Institute. According to the institute’s site, it develops communications and navigation equipment for commercial use as well as for Russia’s Defense Ministry and Emergency Situations Ministry.

Moskovsky Komsomolets reports that Arsenyev was accused of deliberately disrupting shipments “for defense purposes” in 2023. According to the newspaper, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) conducted an investigation of Volna’s activities after a complaint was filed alleging that the institute’s leadership was deliberately delaying shipments of equipment ordered by the Russian government for its war in Ukraine. The authorities were reportedly unable to confirm the allegation.

Arsenyev filed a defamation lawsuit in response to the allegation, but the case was ultimately dismissed, Moskovsky Komsomolets said.

According to Baza, Arsenyev sent a complaint to the Russian Investigative Committee alleging that a Defense Ministry major who previously worked at Volna was deliberately bankrupting the institute and preventing it from fulfilling its state contracts.