Russia’s financial monitoring agency Rosfinmonitoring added two 14-year-old boys to its list of “terrorists and extremists.”
The two teens, Amir Shagatov and Timofey Lubenets, are from the city of Orenburg and were added to the list on Thursday, according to the agency’s website. They are at least the fifth and sixth 14-year-olds to be designated “terrorists and extremists” since last fall.
Law enforcement authorities have not commented on the designations, but the two are reportedly facing terrorism-related charges.
Shagatov’s father, Tulegen Shagatov, told the investigative news outlet Agentstvo that his son was arrested with friends and is now under house arrest. He said he did not know the specific charges against his son, who is in seventh grade.
“He got involved with some people… Maybe he was pressured or asked to join [an organization]. I don’t know for sure,” he was quoted as saying.
According to Agentstvo, Shagatov and Lubenets are friends on the Russian social network VKontakte, suggesting they may have been charged together.
Also on Thursday, Rosfinmonitoring added a third teenager from the Orenburg region, 16-year-old Vadim Tukashev, to its “terrorists and extremists” list.
Rosfinmonitoring’s list includes more than 17,800 individuals and over 800 organizations. The designation allows the authorities to freeze bank accounts and block access to financial services without a court ruling.
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