The Krasnodar Regional Court has sentenced two young men from Gulkevichi in a case involving an attempted arson attack on the grounds of a military unit. According to the Kuban courts’ press service and the Investigative Committee, 19-year-old Vladimir Surzhansky was given 13 years and 6 months in prison, while 18-year-old Dmitry Rybka was sentenced to six years in a general-regime penal colony.
Investigators say that in early 2025, Surzhansky received a job offer from an unidentified person on Telegram: he was allegedly promised 700 US dollars for setting military equipment on fire. After that, law enforcement officials say, he recruited Rybka, who at that time was still under 18.
According to the investigation, in May 2025 the two tried to enter the territory of a military unit in Kavkazskaya stanitsa near Gulkevichi. In the court’s version, Rybka “sustained an injury” during the attempt, after which the two fled. Later that same month, Surzhansky allegedly set fire to an electric locomotive at a railway station for 80,000 rubles and filmed it on camera.
Surzhansky and Rybka were charged with attempted sabotage under Part 3 of Article 30 and Clauses “a” and “v” of Part 2 of Article 281 of the Russian Criminal Code. Surzhansky was additionally charged with involving a minor in a crime under Clauses “a” and “b” of Part 4 of Article 150, as well as sabotage on the railway under Clause “a” of Part 2 of Article 281.
At the same time, the court’s account and that of the Investigative Committee differ in their description of the case. The Investigative Committee says the two planned to set fire to an “administrative building” in Kavkazskaya and does not mention a military unit. However, in a video released by the agency, Surzhansky points to the place where they allegedly tried to climb over the brick fence surrounding the unit.
There is another discrepancy as well. According to the Investigative Committee, the arson did not take place because the young men’s activities “were stopped by officers of the regional FSB directorate”. At the same time, their detention became known only more than two months later, in late July 2025.