Sabotage of the Railway Transport Infrastructure as an Encroachment on the State Security of the Russian Federation

Arson attacks on railroad relay cabinets have become a mass crime since the beginning of the special military operation on the territory of Ukraine. Such actions inflict reputational and material damage and threaten transport and national security of the Russian Federation. However, currently the criminal law assessment of these crimes is ambiguous, and penalties for such actions aimed at paralyzing, among other things, military-related transportation, should be increased. The use of various messengers of mass media platforms has made the sphere under consideration an object of criminal infringements threatening legal relations in transportation, primarily, railroad military transportation. This dictates a heightened interest to researching the criminal law features of the offense under consideration. The importance of the analyzed topic is connected with the fact that the special military operation is ongoing and young Russian people continue to get involved in criminal activities via the Internet, so the materials of criminal cases present an empirical basis for the conducted research. While working on this research article, the authors used a complex of general scientific methods: analysis, synthesis, induction and deduction, together with special scientific methods of theoretical-legal and criminal law research. The obtained results are connected with presenting proof for a need to qualify arsons on the basis of the object of criminal infringements, as well as the goal of the crime. The authors also discuss the necessity of strengthening the prevention of actions under consideration. At the end of their article they conclude that, in order to prevent and suppress arson attacks on railroad transport, it is necessary to strengthen the work and coordination of all “forces of law and order” in the Russian Federation. Due to this, it is necessary to calculate the risks to public, national, transport security, and take measures to counteract sabotage activities at transport security facilities, moreover, such counteraction should be proactive. The authors conclude that complex counteraction to crimes infringing on transport security could minimize the number of such crimes as well as the damage inflicted by such actions.