Resident of Volgograd Region, accused of setting fire to drilling rigs near Khopyor River, rams the gate of geologists' base

On April 20, Mikhail Boyarischev, a resident of the Volgograd Region, the defendant in the case of arson of drilling rigs in the Novokhopyorsk District of the Voronezh Region, drove his car into the gate of the geologists' camp located in the Sorokin Field. This fact was reported by Svetlana Kuznetsova, the founder of the Russian Movement "Stop Nickel!" Boyarischev was detained by policemen and then released.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Boyarischev had refused to plead guilty and to testify at the preliminary investigation. On April 15, in the court, Boyarischev said that he had peacefully participated in the protest action, after which the arson, imputed to him, of the drilling rigs was committed. On the same day, the court dismissed the defence's petition asking to appoint a fire-technical examination. On April 16, the trial investigation of the case was over; the parties' debates are scheduled for April 24.

According to Kuznetsova, Boyarischev rammed the gate in despair.

"He smashed the gate a little and damaged the fence. Mikhail Boyarischev is driven to despair by the unfair trial, as he told the arriving activists. He committed the act in order not to be unjustly convicted," she said.

According to the movement "In Defence of Khopyor", at the time when Boyarischev was questioned at the OMVD (Interior Division) of Novokhopyorsk, activists from nearby towns and villages gathered in front of the police station.