MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st May, 2023) Russia's main investigative authority announced on Saturday a criminal investigation into a recent burning of a copy of the holy Muslim book, Quran, in Volgograd that it suspects was masterminded in Ukraine.
"Nikita Zhuravel, a local resident, has been arrested on suspicion of committing a crime under Section 2 Article 148 of the Russian Criminal Code," the Investigative Committee told Sputnik.
Russian investigators launched a manhunt after a video of a man burning a copy of the Quran in front of a mosque in Volgograd was uploaded online. If found guilty, Zhuravel faces up to three years in prison on charges of offending religious feelings.
The committee told Sputnik that the suspect had confessed to receiving 10,000 rubles ($125) from Ukrainian agents as a reward for staging and filming the Quran burning. He also said he had made videos of Russian military sites for Ukrainians.
