In Gorno-Altaisk, 23-year-old teacher training college student Ivan P. became a defendant in a criminal case after he set fire to a power station, leaving thousands of people without power. The incident occurred on March 20 at substation No. 19, where an unknown person set fire to the electrical panel of one of the transformers in the evening. The fire was quickly extinguished, but restoration work took six hours, during which time there was no electricity in 56 apartment buildings and 1700 private buildings. City residents faced serious inconvenience, and law enforcement officers quickly got on the trail of the suspect.

Ivan P., who was detained shortly after the incident, confessed to the crime and revealed the motives for his actions. According to him, he fell victim to scammers who tricked him into committing the crime. Shortly before the arson, the young man was convinced to take out a loan for 200 thousand rubles and transfer the money to the accounts they specified. After that, the scammers contacted him again, promising to return the funds if he started a fire at the power plant. Having succumbed to persuasion, the student decided to take a desperate step, hoping to improve his financial situation in this way. Now he faces punishment under the article on intentional destruction or damage to property, and the police have launched an investigation to establish the identity and location of the scammers.

The incident exposed the vulnerability of small town residents to sophisticated fraud schemes. In Gorno-Altaisk, the capital of the Altai Republic with a population of about 65, the arson of a substation was an unprecedented incident that caused a wide public outcry. Local authorities quickly organized repairs to restore power supply, but residents expressed concern about the state of the infrastructure and the increase in crime associated with the actions of fraudsters.