Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said Monday that it arrested nine people on suspicion of planning attacks on police officers in the southern Stavropol region during Victory Day celebrations earlier this month.
A teenager, who was not named, allegedly joined an unidentified “terrorist organization” last year “with the intent of committing crimes on its behalf,” the FSB said in a statement.
He then allegedly enlisted an adult relative and seven peers aged between 14 and 16 to help him carry out the planned attacks, according to Russia’s Investigative Committee, which probes major crimes.
Law enforcement authorities said they arrested nine people on May 8, the day before Russia marks the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in World War II.
Russian law enforcement agencies released a video showing a series of interrogations where young men, with their blurred faces, described being recruited into the unnamed “terrorist organization” by their peer.
“He told us to repeat after him, then congratulated us for joining some kind of group that’s banned in Russia,” one of the young men said.
The nine individuals were charged with being involved in terrorist activities and placed in pre-trial detention, the FSB said.
The alleged teenage recruiter was also charged with coercing others to take part in terrorist activities, according to the Investigative Committee.
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