Officials in Russia’s Yekaterinburg call for police help as teenagers ‘terrorize’ tram drivers
The Yekaterinburg city administration has asked local police to intervene amid a wave of attacks by “hooligans” who have been “terrorizing” public transport drivers, according to a letter from the city’s deputy mayor, seen by local journalists.
“The situation has become critical. Any further escalation will endanger transport safety. If nothing changes, we’ll be forced to suspend tram service,” the letter reads. City officials called for police patrols in “high-risk” areas, preventive outreach to local teenagers, and a response to earlier complaints that the administration has been filing since May.
According to E1.ru, most of the incidents have taken place in Yekaterinburg’s Vtorchermet neighborhood, where groups of teenagers have been targeting trams and passengers. The first complaints surfaced in May. At first, adolescents between 11 and 15 years old were seen hitching rides on the couplings between tram cars. Later, they began pelting trams with dirt, eggs, and stones, and throwing firecrackers and metal objects under the wheels. Some reportedly ran into the trams and tried to open the doors while the vehicles were moving. Drivers and conductors have said they are prepared to stop servicing the affected neighborhoods.
On October 5, one of the teenagers shot a tram driver in the leg with an air gun. The Telegram channel Yekaterinburg Glavnoye reported that the incident occurred in the Vtorchermet area. The driver had tried to reprimand the group for “messing around during the ride,” when one of them opened fire. The shooter, a ninth-grade student, was later arrested.
In June, police reportedly located where the teenagers were gathering and visited the site with members of a “citizens’ patrol.” The teens were detained, given a warning, and released.
According to the outlet EAN, local members of the far-right nationalist group Russkaya Obshchina (“Russian Community”) have now decided to step in. The group says it plans to organize “constructive leisure activities” for the teenagers involved.
