The Kansk teenagers who were detained for planning to "blow up" the FSB building in Minecraft have had their charges of participating in a terrorist group dropped. But they still face prison time

The Investigative Committee has closed a criminal case under the article on participation in a terrorist organization, which was opened against three teenagers from Kansk in Krasnoyarsk Krai.

The criminal prosecution of the teenagers was terminated due to the absence of elements of a crime in their actions, and they received the right to rehabilitation, Novaya Gazeta reports, citing the corresponding decision of the Investigative Committee.

The investigation’s decision states that the group, consisting of three schoolchildren, “does not have the necessary structure, does not have divisions, and does not have a clear distribution of functions between the participants, therefore it is not possible to consider this group as a terrorist community.”

The criminal case on the article on participation in a terrorist community, as Novaya Gazeta notes, was opened in November 2020 after a comprehensive psychological and linguistic forensic examination. During the study, experts noted that in their correspondence, the teenagers mentioned articles from Novaya Gazeta and OVD-Info, as well as statements by anarchist Pyotr Kropotkin and musician Kurt Cobain. In addition, the experts pointed out that the teenagers like the songs of Yegor Letov.

At the same time, investigators left the teenagers charged under the article on undergoing training for the purpose of carrying out terrorist activities. Agora lawyer Vladimir Vasin told Mediazona that the final charges have not yet been brought against everyone.

The case of preparation for terrorist activity, as Baza wrote , was opened in the summer of 2020. The teenagers were detained after they posted leaflets in Kansk in support of MSU graduate student Azat Miftakhov, and they pasted one of the leaflets on the FSB building. The schoolchildren's phones were taken away, and their correspondence revealed that the teenagers had built an FSB building in the Minecraft video game, which they decided to "blow up." According to other sources, the teenagers were preparing to blow up a real FSB building.

Correction: We originally reported in the headline that the teens were facing life in prison. This is not true. The editors apologize.