A group of Russians in the country’s Tyumen region snatched a man hiking through a forest and tied him to a tree because they believed he was a “Ukrainian saboteur,” according to local reports. Despite the area being nowhere near the Ukrainian border, volunteers targeted the man twice in one day and accused him of starting forest fires on behalf of Ukraine, the news outlet 77.ru reports. Photos of the man shared on social media show him wearing a camouflage jacket, with his arms wrapped around a tree and bound. Even after local authorities shared a statement alongside the man’s photo reassuring residents that he’s “actually a hiker” just passing through the area, residents on social media continued to demand he be arrested for “carrying out his mission” for Ukraine.
