The arson of special equipment has been under investigation for a year and a half.

      On the night of February 25 to 26, 2025, an unknown individual broke into the territory of a road enterprise, set fire to special equipment, and fled, claim the victims of this arson. The investigation conducted dozens of procedural actions, appointed several expert examinations, carried out searches, and seized physical evidence. However, almost a year and a half later, the criminal case has not yet reached the court. A correspondent from Newsler.ru studied the materials of the criminal case, documents, and also spoke with Oksana Kalashnikova — the head of a specialized road organization, which today represents her interests in the investigation of criminal cases and in numerous civil court proceedings, to understand how the investigation into the arson case, despite the presence of evidence and motive for the crime, is systematically suspended.

      Arson

      Around one o'clock in the morning on February 26, 2025, surveillance cameras installed on the territory of one of the road enterprises in the Kirov region recorded a person climbing over a fence. The footage shows him moving around the production base for some time, after which he approaches one of the snowplows (screenshots from the recording are available to the editorial office). A few minutes later, the cabin of the vehicle is engulfed in flames. Fortunately, the guard was able to react in time. The fire was extinguished in time, including by arriving emergency services. The flames did not spread to other nearby equipment, as it was managed to be moved away. However, the vehicle itself was seriously damaged by the fire. Had the fire not been detected in time, it could have spread further, and the damage to the enterprise could have been significantly greater. Police and emergency service personnel arrived at the scene.

      The investigative operational group examined the territory of the enterprise, seizing items that subsequently became physical evidence. On the same day, a criminal case was initiated under part 2 of Article 167 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (intentional destruction or damage to property by arson).

      At first, it seemed that the investigation was developing according to a familiar scenario: the investigation conducted an inspection of the crime scene, appointed necessary forensic examinations, interrogated witnesses, studied surveillance camera recordings, and performed dozens of other necessary procedural actions. As a result of conducting the entire range of investigative activities, a number of pieces of evidence were obtained.

      However, almost a year and a half later, the criminal case has not yet reached the court. According to Oksana, the investigation has already been suspended nine times due to the failure to establish the identity of the person to be charged as a defendant. After the enterprise's complaints to supervisory authorities, these decisions were canceled, the investigation was resumed, but after some time, the situation repeated itself.

      To understand why the story of the arson of one road vehicle turned into a whole series of criminal cases and court disputes, it is necessary to go back several years.

      Legacy

      The enterprise was established in the late 1990s in Slobodskoy. Over the years, the company became one of the contractors engaged in the construction and maintenance of roads in the Kirov region. Gradually, its own fleet of special equipment was formed – graders, rollers, asphalt pavers, combined road machines, and other equipment necessary for road work.

      In 2016, Oksana's father, the founder of the company, passed away. After inheriting, his share passed to the family. According to Kalashnikova, the family did not interfere in the enterprise's operations and entrusted management to the second founder, who continued to lead the company.

      A new phase in the firm's history began after the death of the second founder in 2024. In December of the same year, Oksana, who became the new head of the organization, decided to conduct an audit of the financial and economic activities of the enterprise over the past 10 years. During the audit, facts of embezzlement of expensive equipment belonging to the organization were revealed. Currently, criminal cases have been initiated and are being investigated regarding these facts. After Oksana, as the head of the organization, reported the facts of embezzlement to law enforcement agencies, the arson of the vehicle occurred on the territory of the enterprise in February 2025. The series of mentioned circumstances allows us to conclude that the arson is likely related to the facts of embezzlement revealed during the audit, indicating a motive for the crime.

      "After the fire was extinguished and the firefighters left, the men went to inspect the area and found clear tracks in the snow. Clean, even snow, and a clear trail of footprints leading to the fence," Oksana recounts.

      As it turned out later, after reviewing the footage from the surveillance cameras, the person entered the territory by passing through the lowest point in the fence, known to few, took a canister, doused the vehicle, set it on fire, and fled. The guard was heating the stove at that time and noticed nothing.

      "When we watched the video, I immediately recognized the person. My workplace is by the window, and I involuntarily see all the employees every day, their behavior, gait, and mannerisms. He has a specific appearance: tall, thin, the same clothes, making it hard to confuse him with anyone else," Oksana recalls.

      She did not tell anyone. In the morning, when the workers still did not know about the fire, she showed the video to the team and asked, "Do you recognize anyone?" Half of the employees stated that the man in the video resembled a former employee of the enterprise, a relative of the second founder of the company.

      "I needed an objective opinion. This accusation is too serious. But both the employees and I recognized him," she explains. Later, Oksana shared this information with the investigation.

      Soon, as indicated in the materials of the criminal case, police officers conducted a series of investigative actions. Searches were carried out, clothing, shoes, and other items that could be relevant to the investigation were seized. Additionally, investigators obtained samples for comparative studies. During the examination of the territory, two plastic canisters with remnants of liquid, gloves, shoe prints, and other items were discovered. All findings were sent for forensic examinations.

      It is the results of these studies that today occupy a significant part of the materials of the criminal case.

      What the experts found

      According to the conclusions of forensic examinations, both canisters seized from the crime scene contained scent traces belonging to the person recognized by the employees of the organization in the video recording. Additionally, according to the experts' conclusions, there are traces of petroleum products in the subungual contents of the right hand of this individual, as well as on his winter jacket and sports pants.

      And yet. Despite the presence of this evidence and motive for the crime, the case has already been suspended nine times (!) for the same reason – paragraph 1 of part 1 of Article 208 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation (the person to be charged as a defendant has not been established). Each time, after complaints to the prosecutor's office, the rulings were canceled. And each time the case returned to the same circle.

      "We were told directly: 'If the whole vehicle had burned, the damage would have been significant, we would have gone to court. But as it is — the damage is small," she recalls.

      Documents in the editorial office confirm that some rulings were indeed canceled as premature. After that, the materials were again sent to the investigator for further investigation. However, a final procedural decision on the case has still not been made.

      However, no one even attempts to consider the issue that as a result of the fire, specialized equipment was out of service for a long time. The vehicle that was set on fire had specialized equipment on it.

      Due to the arson, the organization was forced to take a long time to restore this special equipment, which affected the normal operation of the enterprise.

      During this time, several municipal contracts for the maintenance of public roads during the winter period — clearing and salting with reagents — were in execution at the organization. The arson of the vehicle jeopardized not only the execution of municipal contracts by the organization but also directly affected the situation with the maintenance of roads in the area, as a unit of the burned special equipment, which cleared snow on the roads of the Slobodskoy district, was out of service for a long time.

      The labors of Sisyphus

      From the documents available to the editorial office, it follows that the prosecutor's office has repeatedly pointed out the need for additional investigative actions. In particular, the investigation was suggested to eliminate the identified shortcomings, check certain circumstances of the case, and assess the already collected evidence. Similar instructions were given by the leadership of the investigative unit when canceling rulings on the suspension of the investigation.

      This is precisely why, Kalashnikova notes, the enterprise continued to strive for the resumption of the investigation, believing that opportunities to establish all the circumstances of what happened have not yet been exhausted, and that an assessment of the existing evidence, which the victims believe is sufficient for bringing charges, has not been given.

      "We want only one thing — for the investigation to be brought to a conclusion and for a legal decision to be made on the case. What it will be — should be shown by the investigation and the court. But right now, it feels like the story just can't move forward," she says.

      What’s next?

      The investigation continues. Officially, no one has been recognized as guilty of committing the crime, and no charges have been brought in the case.

      "We wrote to the prosecutor's office, to the General Prosecutor's Office, to the State