Police investigating case of attempted arson by man suspected of being hired by Russia

The Prague police have stepped up security after detaining a South American man on Saturday evening who is suspected of having been hired by Russia to carry out an arson attack on Czech territory.

Police had been looking for the man since Thursday after he poured gasoline on some buses in the Prague 9 district and attempted unsuccessfully to set them on fire. The man fled the scene and the police spent two days searching for him, even calling on the public on Friday to help with the search. They eventually found and arrested the suspect on Saturday.

According to news site Deník N, security forces were already on high alert due to a series of mysterious arson attacks on infrastructure in Germany and the Baltic states that have occurred in recent months and therefore immediately suspected that this attack could be linked to these other similar cases. After checking the suspect's mobile phone, they discovered the man was a member of a Telegram group in which arson attacks were being discussed. The Czech secret service suspects Russia of being behind the attempted attack and are now investigating the case.