Prosecutors attribute motive of hatred towards authorities to Balabanov, accused of setting fire on military registration and enlistment office

Mikhail Balabanov, accused of preparing to set fire to a military registration and enlistment office in the city of Nevinnomyssk, refused to answer questions in court and plead guilty under terrorism charges. A public prosecutor insisted on reading out the Mikhail Balabanov’s testimony given during the investigation, which contained a statement of hatred towards the Russian authorities.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that on January 31, a military court in Rostov-on-Don began considering the case instituted against Mikhail Balabanov. According to the investigators’ version, Mikhail Balabanov planned the arson on instructions from the Ukrainian intelligence. The defendant does not deny committing specific actions, but refuses to recognize them as preparation for a terror act. The defence demands justification for classifying the case as a terrorist offense and points to evidence of provocation on the law enforcers’ part.

In his testimony, Mikhail Balabanov pleaded not guilty, saying that he did not intend to commit a terror act. The defendant also noted that his correspondence with the “curator” was included in the case materials in an altered form.

“There are phrases that neither he nor his interlocutor wrote. There are things that do not fit logically. For example, when they start writing about the Molotov cocktail, Mikhail allegedly notes that he knows how to make it, and his interlocutor then begins telling him in detail how to make it, which looks like nonsense,” noted advocate Vyacheslav Savin.