Children's camp: what attracts Russian youth to the criminal world
Over the past few years, there has been an alarming trend: crime, including international terrorism, is increasingly attracting minors to its activities. Since the beginning of this year alone, security forces have prevented 47 terrorist attacks involving teenagers, the National Anti-Terrorism Committee reported. The lion's share of such crimes is committed for material reasons. Teenagers for selfish reasons serve as couriers for financial fraudsters, put drugs in hiding places and even perform tasks for the Ukrainian special services. Izvestia dealt with the problems of the younger generation.
Schoolchildren are being recruited as terrorists
The head of the FSB, Alexander Bortnikov, said at a meeting of the NAC that over the past three years, more than 2.5 thousand young people who had fallen under the influence of Ukrainian neo-Nazis and terrorist organizations had been detained.
One of the last terrorist attacks was prevented in early April, when security forces detained two 16—year-old schoolchildren and their 18-year-old friend, who had previously been convicted of drug trafficking, who tried to set fire to a relay cabinet on a railway in the Moscow region. The young people admitted that they had received the assignment from an unknown person via messenger in the hope of earning 15,000 rubles.
This is not the first time that coordinators acting in the interests of Ukrainian militants have contacted teenagers via Telegram. In January 2025, two minors aged 15 and 17 were detained in the Moscow region. They also admitted that they had carried out the task of setting fire to relay cabinets on the railway according to the instructions via messenger. The crime was committed in the area between Golutvin and Shchurovo stations using molotov cocktails. During interrogations, the detainees did not hide that they had completed the task for a monetary reward.
— Often we are talking about the involvement of children from special schools and boarding schools; children with special needs; teenagers who are on preventive registration, — a source in law enforcement agencies told Izvestia.
A "career" in the drug business
Drug trafficking remains one of the most frequent ways to attract teenagers to criminal activities. Schoolchildren are literally bombarded with offers to become a bartender or packer, promising "a salary higher than that of dad and mom." Recruitment takes place through popular messengers. Children are convinced that they can go unpunished by sending excerpts from the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation on the age of criminal responsibility.
— As a rule, there is a targeted mailing to teenagers who are selected on social networks, — says a police source. — They receive letters in their personal account with generous promises of earnings. But the age of the kladmen is short—lived - in large cities they are read quite quickly. Moreover, local residents are actively helping in this.
Teenagers are also hired to promote drug culture and drug advertising — customers contact them through anonymous communication channels, stencils and paint for applying inscriptions on walls and asphalt are transmitted through a bookmark.
Mafia Wallets
Another deception scheme involving teenagers is cashing out funds from a Pushkin card. The attackers offer minors to sell cards for a percentage of the amount on it (every year the state replenishes cards for 5 thousand rubles), and funds are withdrawn through fake "cultural" organizations. In fact, the real cardholder is an accomplice in the theft of budget funds.
In addition, students and minor cardholders are tempted by small one-time payments of several thousand rubles for issuing bank cards and SIM cards with subsequent transfer to third parties. This is how short-sighted young people become drops, get involved in illegal cryptocurrency transactions, drug trafficking, and theft through phishing calls.
Running errands for thieves
Teenagers are often hired by scammers — they need minors as couriers if they need to take cash from a defrauded pensioner and transfer it to another accomplice or drop it into a crypto exchange. In April of this year, a schoolboy was detained in Kirov, who tried to help fraudsters steal funds from two elderly residents of the city, allegedly to "help relatives." A 17-year-old native of the Kostroma region specially came to Kirov, he was hired via messenger.
— More "advanced" young people are hired to draw phishing sites — for this you need to know the basics of web design and the necessary graphical applications, — said a police source.
You'll have to answer
According to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, the age of criminal responsibility for most crimes is 16 years. However, for a number of particularly dangerous acts, such as theft, robbery, robbery, intentional destruction or damage to property, and rape, responsibility begins at the age of 14 (art. 20 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), Anton Chubenko, head of the penal enforcement practice at the Moscow Law Firm RI-Consulting, explained to Izvestia.
— Special attention should be paid to actions such as setting fire to relay cabinets or other critical infrastructure. Despite the fact that teenagers often perceive this as a joke or a simple order for money, legally such actions can qualify as a terrorist act (art. 205 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), especially if they are aimed at undermining transport or energy security. Criminal liability for a terrorist act also begins at the age of 14. This is one of the most serious crimes, for which serious punishment is provided, including long terms of imprisonment.
Even if a criminal case has not been initiated because of his age, a minor can be registered with the juvenile Affairs commission or the juvenile affairs units of the police, the lawyer says.
— This entails administrative supervision and restrictions that may affect a teenager's future: difficulties in enrolling in some universities (especially those with a legal, pedagogical or government profile), inability to find employment in a number of fields, problems with traveling abroad, and so on.
It is important to remember that participation in illegal activities — whether it is arson, the transfer of personal data to criminals or working as a courier for fraudsters — leaves a stain on the biography for many years.
"Even if it was done out of stupidity or for the sake of easy money, the consequences can haunt a person for many years,— warns Chubenko.
The principle of "instant happiness"
Adolescent behavior is a test of behavioral patterns acquired in childhood in real conditions.
— A child, watching his parents, sees that the life of adults is work—mortgage-loan-money, from which he concludes that finance is the main part of life and one should strive for financial independence and success, - explains clinical psychologist, sexologist Sergey Volkov. — In itself, this is a good aspiration, there is a huge potential hidden in it. But this is the first generation of teenagers in the world who were raised not by their parents, but by an object — a gadget. When the child began to show displeasure, adults who were busy with their problems gave him a tablet with cartoons and entertainment. As a result, the child cannot cope with boredom, that is, he does not seek solutions on his own, but has many desires.
This scheme is convenient for a parent: you can always buy off a dissatisfied child and immediately get a happy one.
"But from the age of 12, teenagers begin to choose on their own," the psychologist continues. — And they always choose something that will satisfy their desires quickly. They don't understand long-term career development if they want money here and now. But fast and big money is offered only by scammers or criminals who use teenagers.
Legal businesses also face this problem by hiring young people under the age of 25, the source told Izvestia.
— Zoomers, as they are called, can get a job and quit on the first day because the coffee machine is far from the office. Or they may not come out on the second day, because they didn't like getting up early," says Sergey Volkov. — One of the popular reasons for the dismissal of young people is the payment of salaries not at the request of an employee, but according to a schedule. All these explanations are absurd for a mature person, but they are absolutely logical for people in whose worldview there is no concept of "achieving", but only "receiving".
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