MOSCOW, July 4 (RIA Novosti) – Police opened a criminal case Thursday against a man injured in a small bomb blast in St. Petersburg on Wednesday on suspicion of assembling and transporting explosives.
The explosion near Nevsky Prospekt, the main street of Russia’s second city, took place at 3:30 p.m. and was equivalent in force to the explosion of one gram of TNT, according to a statement by police.
Initial reports suggested that the 18-year-old man was an innocent bystander who was hurt when an unattended bag he picked up exploded, but police said Thursday that explosive-making equipment was discovered during a search of the man’s apartment, and instructions for making bombs were found on his computer.
The man was Alexander Bychkov, a student at St. Petersburg State University, and he told police that the explosives were for making fireworks, Russian news website Fontanka.ru reported, citing unnamed police sources.
The police do not consider Bychkov to be an extremist, but said he “supports right-wing ideas,” according to Fontanka.ru.
A spokesman for Russia’s Federal Security Service, the FSB, said Wednesday that the agency had no reason to assume the blast was linked to the work of a terrorist group.
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