Why are young Russians becoming 'saboteurs'?

Russia has seen a growing number of acts of sabotage, mostly against the railroad and the military — with minors as the culprits.

Authorities maintain that young people are being commissioned to carry out such operations by "pro-Ukrainian handlers" on social media networks.

Now, authorities are using propaganda videos to threaten the young saboteurs. A draft law would make it possible to punish kids as young as 14 for sabotage. At the same time, human rights activists have warned that Russian security forces could be acting as provocateurs.

DW has followed several legal proceedings against young Russians, and also contacted a channel on the Telegram messaging app on which money is offered for arson attacks on military equipment.

Flyers with a QR code attract youth

A small bus stops in a residential district in the southern city of Omsk. Six armed men from a special unit jump out and run into a house, where they break open the door of an apartment and find two teenagers. They push them to the floor and interrogate them.

In this video, made by security forces and distributed on Telegram channels, the juveniles confess to having set a military helicopter on fire. They say they were offered $20,000 (€18,500) for doing so by an unknown person via Telegram, but didn't receive the money.

A criminal investigation on suspicion of terrorism was launched, and now the juveniles are facing at least two months in pre-trial detention.

According to authorities, on September 21, a Mi-8 helicopter at a military base in Omsk was set on fire by a Molotov cocktail. In the same month, a civilian helicopter of the same type was burned at the Noyabrsk Airport in Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug.

Two young people were arrested on the spot, found with burns on their faces and hands from setting the helicopter ablaze. They said they had received the commission to commit the deed via Telegram.

The youths said they had found a flyer with a QR code in the toilets at their school. Using the code, they had contacted the unknown person who promised them money for doing the sabotage. According to media reports, similar flyers have been found in several Russian regions, including in Volgograd, Voronezh and Ryazan.

'Bot for schoolchildren who need money'

In the guise of a schoolboy from St. Petersburg, DW got in contact with a Telegram channel of this kind. 

The chat began with the automatic greeting "Bot for schoolchildren who need money." The following sums were offered for arson attacks: $5,000 for a helicopter, $10,000 for a plane, $3,000 for a transformer and $4,000 for power lines.

The chat partner asked straightaway where the pupil came from and what "objects" were nearby. For the destruction of military equipment with a video as proof, the individual even promised $150,000 paid from a crypto wallet into any bank account desired.

In addition, the chat partner gave exact instructions on how an object can be destroyed using a gas canister. He wrote that only 10% of commissions had failed so far, adding that there would not be a "real punishment" if the young saboteurs were arrested by police.

At the end of the chat, the DW journalist introduced himself by name and asked for an explanation. The unknown man said only that he worked "for a certain organization" whose representatives were located in a number of countries. He said the aim was to try to destroy as much military equipment as possible that could be used against the civilian population of Ukraine.

"Why young people? Because they can only be held responsible to a minimal extent," the unknown person wrote.

Who is behind the chats?

Identifying the administrators of such Telegram channels is almost impossible, said Michael Klimarev, a security expert who heads the nonprofit Internet Protection Society. He said they were manipulating minors while talking about a "fight against the Russian occupiers."

"They make the kids do things that they wouldn't risk doing themselves, and ruin their lives. It isn't a sign of bravery to rope children into such a fight," said Klimarev.

A technical expert from the Russian human rights initiative NetFreedomsProject, who did not want to be named over safety concerns, said it was indeed possible to identify people and their locations with the help of Telegram's management.

"That is the only way to find out who is behind the Telegram chats — whether they are abroad or whether they are provocateurs in Russia itself," the expert said.

More than 550 people prosecuted for sabotage, arson

The Russian Volunteer Corps, which is made up of Russian citizens who side with Ukraine, presents several videos showing acts of sabotage against the Russian railroad system on its Telegram channel. DW interviewed someone close to the group who insisted on remaining anonymous.

He said the participation of minors and amateurs in sabotage was a controversial issue within the group.

"A professional is well-prepared and knows what he is getting into," he said. However, he said, people who recruit juveniles see it as a cheap and expedient method of using fires to reach targets fast. He suggested that Telegram channels could also be used by secret service agents to entrap young people.

According to the human rights project Avtozak LIVE, more than 550 people are being prosecuted for acts of sabotage and arson against recruitment offices of the Russian army. It does not have figures specifically on minors.

The project OVD-Info reports that at least 28 people in Russia have been given jail sentences for sabotage since the invasion began. Under Russian law, such cases can carry prison sentences of 10 to 12 years for people who are older than 16.

At the moment, young sabotage suspects are charged with "terrorist" offenses, said Alexander Verkhovsky, the head of the research center SOWA. He said two 14-year-olds in St. Petersburg were sentenced to two and four years in jail for setting a relay box on fire. Verkhovsky said there were unfortunately no statistics on such cases, as the documents were not made publicly accessible. The Russian parliament is currently considering a draft bill that would lower the age limit for prosecution on sabotage charges to 14.

Evegeny Smirnov, a lawyer for the human rights project First Department (Perviy otdel), said the accusation of participation in a terror organization or of high treason could be brought if investigators believed an act of sabotage had been carried out at the behest of the Freedom of Russia Legion or another organization that is banned in Russia. That would mean an even harsher jail sentence, he said.

Though Russian authorities are imposing heavier penalties and lowering the age limit for prosecution, Smirnov said, they are not removing the reason for the acts of sabotage: namely, the war against Ukraine. "I do not expect a reduction in prosecutions until the conflict ends," he said.

This article was originally written in Russian.