A Russian court has sentenced a 16-year-old boy from the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District to eight years in prison over the arson of an Mi-8 helicopter at the airport in the city of Noyabrsk in 2024. Russia’s Investigative Committee said he was found guilty of committing a terrorist attack as part of a group. He will serve his sentence in a juvenile correctional colony until he turns 18.
A second boy accused of setting fire to the helicopter was sent to a closed educational institution, as he had not reached the age of criminal responsibility at the time of the alleged crime.
According to investigators, two teenagers, who were 14 and 13 in September 2024 when they entered the airport grounds, poured gasoline on a civilian Mi-8 helicopter, and set it on fire. The damage was estimated at 59 million rubles ($753,500). Earlier reports said the burned helicopter belonged to the Tyumen-based airline company UTair.
The teenagers suffered burns and tried to hide, but were caught in the Tyumen Region. Investigators said they acted on instructions from Ukrainian intelligence services, which allegedly promised them payment of 4 million rubles for the arson ($51,000). The teenagers were also accused of setting fire to a cell tower in an industrial zone in Noyabrsk.
Three other people had previously been convicted in connection with the incident: Noyabrsk airport director Alexei Korzhevoy and a security guard were both found guilty of failing to comply with airport transport security requirements, while an unnamed city resident was convicted of failing to report knowledge that a terrorist attack was being planned. Korzhevoy was sentenced to two years of restricted freedom, while the other two were fined (1, 2).
