Security forces reported on the prevention of a terrorist attack in Bataysk.

Two unemployed men from Rostov-on-Don intended to set fire to communications and power supply facilities, and had previously burned down a cell tower in Rostov-on-Don. They have been arrested, according to security officials.

Officers prevented a terrorist attack at a public utility facility in Bataysk and detained the suspects, the press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for the Rostov Region reported.

According to the department, two Rostov-on-Don residents entered into correspondence with unknown individuals who proposed setting fire to communications and power supply facilities, providing them with instructions and specific targets.
However, the perpetrators were unable to carry out their criminal intent, as they were detained by law enforcement officers. During searches of the defendants' residences, operatives discovered and seized mobile phones, tools, and chemicals they had prepared to set fire to the electrical substation.

A criminal case has been opened against the detainees under the article on terrorism (Part 1 of Article 30, Part 2 of Article 205 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).
Operatives also established their involvement in the arson of a cell phone tower in Rostov-on-Don. A criminal case has been opened for this incident under the article on intentional destruction of or damage to property (Part 2 of Article 167 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation "Intentional destruction of or damage to property").

The press service of the Federal Security Service (FSB) for the Rostov Region clarified that both suspects are unemployed. The court chose a preventive measure for them in the form of detention, Interfax reports.

As "Caucasian Knot, in the regions of southern Russia, after the start of the military operation in Ukraine, there have been repeated arson attacks on railway and cellular communication equipment. Investigators classify these incidents as sabotage and terrorist attacks. Thus, in February, a court sentenced Nikolai Golubov, a resident of the Rostov region, to 11 years in prison for arson on the railway, and in early March it became known about the arrest of a student from a Novocherkassk university, suspected of setting fire to two electrical substations.

On March 10, it became known that Ruslan Kolomoets and Nikolai Boychenko were sentenced to long terms in the case of arson of a transformer substation on the railway section between Bataysk and Azov.