The Moscow Regional Court has begun hearing the case against 45-year-old Kazakh citizen Vitaly Boyko, who is charged with “assistance to the enemy,” participation in a sabotage group, and three counts of sabotage committed by a group and causing significant damage. The information was reported by Mediazona.
According to the prosecution, in January 2025 Boyko set fire to three mobile communication towers in the Shchyolkovo and Losino-Petrovsky districts on instructions from a handler whom investigators link to Ukraine’s military intelligence agency, the HUR. Case materials say he received 30,000 to 35,000 rubles for each arson attack.
The indictment says the defendant communicated on Telegram with an agent using the alias “Inna”. Investigators argue that the arsons were intended to “obstruct the conduct of the special military operation,” while also claiming that Boyko acted out of financial interest.
After the third incident, investigators say, Boyko went to the police on his own and turned himself in. The payments for the assignments were allegedly transferred to the bank card of his common-law wife. During questioning, she said she did not know what her husband had been doing.
In court, the defendant said he admits to the arsons themselves but rejects the charges of sabotage and assistance to Ukraine. His lawyer noted that the case had initially been opened as intentional destruction of property, but that the charges were reclassified several months later.
According to testimony from relatives read out in court, Boyko came to Russia several years ago to earn money. Those statements also said that he had been convicted several times in Kazakhstan, including in a murder case. Representatives of T2 Mobile and MTS, the companies that owned the damaged towers, were recognized as victims in the proceedings. They said the total damage from the fires was about 700,000 rubles.