In the fall of 2009, mysterious arson attacks on police stations began in Oryol. Unknown individuals planted homemade bombs and threw Molotov cocktails at the buildings. Over the course of a year, firethrowers set fire to seven police stations, two city prosecutor's offices, a church, a street cafe, and a store. Throughout this time, investigators were unable to determine who was terrorizing the Oryol region and why. Detectives only tracked down the perpetrators after analyzing a fragment of a SIM card used in one of the bombs.