Since 2018, law enforcement has initiated political persecution under terrorist and extremist articles against 16 minors aged 14 to 17, writes the project «According to OVD-Info*». Recently, teenagers often end up on this list accused of committing arson, which the investigation increasingly qualifies as «terrorist acts». In most cases, the details of these cases are unknown, so the project cannot consider all these persecutions politically motivated.
Most of the persecutions began in 2023, when eight teenagers were accused of «terrorism and extremism». Among them is Arseny Turbin**, the youngest political prisoner in Russia, who celebrated his sixteenth birthday in the pre-trial detention center «Vodnik». In June, Turbin was sentenced to five years in a juvenile colony for involvement in a «terrorist organization». According to the investigation, in June 2023, 14-year-old Turbin wrote to the Freedom of Russia Legion telegram bot*** and filled out an application to join. He allegedly was guided by «radical-extremist political views» that were formed under the «influence of opposition publications». Law enforcement claimed that he confirmed this during the first interrogation, but there is no such confirmation in the transcript of the interrogation, which suggests document falsification by the investigation.
Nine defendants in these cases turned 18 during the persecution. In some cases, this caused additional pressure. For example, after the birthday of Yegor Balazeykin**, sentenced to six years for attempting to set fire to military enlistment offices, he was forced to transfer to an «adult» colony, where conditions are harsher than in a juvenile colony, although by law this was not necessary.
Defendants in cases under «terrorist» and «extremist» articles are included in a special Rosfinmonitoring registry. Currently, it includes 157 minors — about 1% of all those listed. The youngest of them is 14 years old.
*«OVD-Info is recognized as a «foreign agent».
** Included in the list of «terrorists and extremists».
*** Recognized in Russia as a «terrorist organization».