"I agree, there is no revolutionary situation today," says Stas.
He sits in an armchair. Ivan, Sergei, Sasha and Olya are on the sofa.
"I remember the late 1980s' perestroika era pretty well," he continues. "The situation was completely different. Everyone hated the Soviet system. Absolutely everyone was dissatisfied with it. Even Gorbachev and his clique didn't like it, but they just wanted to slightly amend it, dramatic changes. As a result, they got what they didn't expect. The communist apparatchiks didn't like the system, because it didn't allow them to make a lot of money; they had to drive Volgas instead of Mercedes and spend vacations in the Crimea rather than on the Canary Islands. As for regular people, the system didn't allow them to breathe."
"The current system perfectly satisfies state officials, as they created it the way they wanted. And it satisfies regular people too, because it allows them to make money… An average person who makes enough money to take out a mortgage on an apartment, buy a new foreign-made car and go on vacation to Spain wouldn't want any changes."
"That is all correct," says Sasha. "Which is why we don't want to set any political goals. We have chosen a very specific target - the cops. Absolutely everyone hates them - from street drunks to the average people you were talking about. They are a very real, plausible evil. Even the system itself admits it."
"We are living under siege," says Sergei. "The power in the country has been taken by maniacs, crooks and black-asses. We need to fight them by any means possible…"
"That goes without saying," Sasha interrupts. "But we have the cops as our specific target. Are you with us or not?"
"Of course I am. Why would I be here otherwise?"
"Question," says Stas. "Are you considering contact with other organizations of similar ideology?"
"No," Sasha replies. "Our principle is autonomous action. All we're gonna do is send information about our actions to the Black Blog."
"Are there similar organizations at all in the city?" Stas asks. "At least, on an ideological level? Like, leftist anarchists?"
Sasha shakes his head.
"There are a very small number of politically-minded punks," he says. "Their ideology is antifa and leftist anarchism, but they're not doing anything serious. All they're doing is posting online and graffiti. We don't need any contact with them. That would only raise the chances of a leak."
"Okay," says Stas and looks at the other guys, one by one. "Well, I'm in. But let's make it clear from the very beginning: we have to introduce top secrecy. No one can be friends with each other on social networks or be in each other's mobile phone contacts."
"What if we already are?" says Olya. "Unfriending each other would look odd."
"He is my cousin," Sergei says, pointing at Ivan. "Why the hell can't we be Facebook friends?"
"That's alright," Stas says, frowning. "But it would be more difficult to explain your contact with me. Next. Everyone should get a phone with an untraceable SIM-card and replace it regularly. All incoming and outgoing calls are to be immediately deleted from the call history. We use the phones only in emergency cases. Here, in the apartment, we don't use first names."
"You mean, it could be bugged?" Sergei asks.
"I mean, the neighbors could hear us as the walls are thin."
"That's a bit too much," Olya says.
"Not too much," Stas counters. "This is normal, minimal caution. Overall, any phone conversations regarding our actions are out of the question. At the end of each meeting, we'll set a date and time for the next one. All meetings are here. At least, an hour before a meeting, all mobile phones are to be switched off. If someone is running late - no warnings. Everyone waits. If someone is running more than 15 minutes late, the meeting is automatically cancelled and moved to the same time the next day."
Stas turns away and looks out the window, then back at the guys.
"And do you really think they need it?" he asks.
"They?" Sasha asks.
"People. Regular people. Do they really need us to fight for them, for their rights?"
"We're not doing it for them," says Olya. "We're doing it primarily for ourselves."

*

Night. A cloudless black sky. A police station on the city's outskirts is lit by a few streetlamps. It's surrounded by concrete blocks on supports. The blocks don't reach all the way to the ground, leaving wide gaps. Next to the fence is woodland. In the gaps between the blocks, wheels of police cars can be seen.
Three people clad in dark hooded sweatshirts run out of the woodland, towards the fence. Each of them wears a balaclava and holds a Molotov cocktail. They stop, simultaneously light the wicks, hurl the bottles over the fence and run back into the woods.
The Molotov cocktails explode. Flames appear above the fence. Barking is heard. Several stray dogs squeeze through the gaps beneath the fence, stop and bark.

*

Newspaper "Regional Tribune," September 27, 2012
Section: Crime
Headline: Close Combat
Writer: Viktor Sukhov

In the early hours of September 26, the police station Blizhni, located on Pankratov Street in the city's North West, was attacked. As a police source told Regional Tribune, at about 3am, several Molotov cocktails were thrown on the site of the police station, causing a fire. As a result of the fire, five police cars in the parking lot were seriously damaged. The police's press service refused to provide any comment or even confirm the very fact of the incident. A spokesman for the city's emergencies department confirmed that three fire brigades were sent to Pankratov Street but wouldn't provide any more details.
The police station is located on the outskirts of the city, in an industrial zone, next to several warehouses, a car service station and a packing plant. There are no residential buildings in the vicinity. Tribune's correspondent on the spot was unable to see any traces of fire from the outside and was not allowed onto the site of the police station even though he presented proper credentials. No reasons for this refusal were provided. The police station occupies a substantial area and borders on woodlands. The part of the site next to the woodlands is located slightly away from the main building.