Thread by @4freerussia_org

1/ The number of acts of sabotage in Russia has surged in 2023, more than doubling compared to the previous year, according to the independent news site Vyorstka, which reported on May 15, 2023.

2/ Publicly reported incidents of attacks on Russian railways, military enlistment centers, energy sites, and other targets have reached at least 57 between January and May 2023. Railway tracks have been the primary target, accounting for nearly two-thirds of this year's attacks

3/ This is a significant increase compared to the 21 similar attacks in 2022 and the lone attack in 2021.

At least 26 Russian regions, including annexed Crimea, have experienced at least one such attack, with the Moscow region leading with nine incidents.

4/ The month of May recorded the highest number of acts of sabotage with 14, followed by 12 incidents each in January, February, and April.

Vyorstka's tally includes attempts to attack state property, regardless of their success.

5/ However, cases in which authorities claimed to have detained suspects preparing for attacks or instances where perpetrators were deceived into carrying out the attacks by scammers were not included in the count.

6/ Since the Kremlin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, there have been frequent reports of explosions at ammunition depots, arson attacks on military enlistment centers, and damage caused to railway tracks.

7/ In December 2022, Vladimir Putin tightened the punishment for acts of sabotage, imposing prison terms of up to life sentences.

8/ Since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the Kremlin has been cracking down harshly on anti-war dissent, resulting in an increasing number of fines and prison sentences for seemingly innocuous acts such as making social media comments.

#notowar #stopwar #freerussia