The Novosibirsk Regional Court sentenced a 15-year-old teenager to five years in a juvenile penal colony in a sabotage case brought under Article 281, Part 1 of the Criminal Code. Mediazona drew attention to the court press service’s announcement.
According to the security services’ version, in January 2026 the minor went to a mobile communications station in the settlement of Gorny in the Toguchinsky district. Investigators say he forced open the door of the metering panel, then poured a flammable liquid over the equipment inside and set it on fire.
The court’s published statement does not say whether the teenager admitted guilt on the charge. Other circumstances of the case, including any alleged motive and the amount of damage, were not specified in the brief press service report.
This was not the first such sentence in recent days. Earlier this week, a court in the Leningrad region also ruled in the case of a minor accused of setting fire to a mobile communications tower.
In that case, a 16-year-old was given six and a half years in a juvenile penal colony. Both cases concern arson attacks on telecommunications infrastructure that investigators classified as sabotage.