‘Russian national’ charged with making weapons of mass destruction at his Philadelphia home

Evgenii Sadrislamov accused after authorities said he possessed enough explosives ‘to level a whole block’

A man reported to be a Russian national has been charged with manufacturing weapons of mass destruction at his home in Philadelphia.
More than 50lbs worth of explosives were seized from a property belonging to Evgenii Sadrislamov, which authorities said could have “levelled a whole block” and ended in a “major tragedy”.
Firefighters were called to a property on Friday evening after receiving reports of smoke coming from inside a garage of Mr Sadrislamov’s house, Fox 29 News reported.
A man and a woman were rescued from the home and treated by the emergency services at the scene. No injuries were reported.
James Kelly III, the deputy commissioner of Philadelphia police, said that an “explosive manufacturing lab”, including materials to make incendiary devices, was found in the basement and the garage.
“We really escaped a major tragedy on this one,” he said.
Mr Sadrislamov, 27, was charged with possessing weapons of mass destruction, arson, reckless endangerment and related offences.
He is in custody on $950,000 bail and has a preliminary hearing scheduled for Oct 22, officials said.
The Philadelphia resident was already on probation after an incident in 2020 after commercial grade fireworks were found inside his home.
Prosecutors said the incident was a “clear escalation” of his previous conviction.
“Today we are fortunate to be talking about a defendant charged with only endangering himself, his family, and his neighborhood with his illegal explosives lab,” said Eric DeGree, a special agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
He added that Mr Sadrislamov could have killed himself and his family while causing “injury, death and destruction” to his neighbors.
“This was a huge danger to the community, a rowhome possessed explosives that could have levelled a whole block,” said Angela Brennan, the assistant district attorney.