PETROZAVODSK, August 13. /TASS/. A 15-year-old schoolboy has been placed in a detention facility for minors for the period of 30 days under suspicion of arson of a 18th-century Dormition Church in the city of Kondopoga located in Russia’s northwestern Karelia Region, a source in the Russian Investigative Committee informed TASS on Monday.
"The teenager has been placed in a detention center for underage delinquents of the Interior Ministry’s department for Karelia for 30 days," the source said.
The source did not specify whether the teenager confessed. It is unclear if he formed part of any Satanist group. According to the investigation, on August 10, the teenager set the Dormition Church on fire during a visit to his grandmother, who lives in Kondopoga.
The court will perform an examination of the teenager’s mental state; however, the source did not provide the date of the examination. Earlier, a police source informed TASS that the suspect has mental disabilities and explained his actions by wanting to become famous.
The Dormition Church, considered to be a federal cultural heritage site, was built in 1774. It was one of the tallest wooden churches in northern Russia. It was 42 meters high, its length was 24 meters and width - 14.6 meters.
According to the Petrozavodsk and Karelia diocese, the building was not owned by the Russian Orthodox Church, and no church services were conducted in it.