FSB arrests three high school students for sabotaging train tracks near Moscow

The FSB has arrested three eighth-grade students who allegedly sabotaged the railway by damaging the tracks near Moscow.

According to the detectives, the high school students from the suburban town of Chekhov followed instructions from an unknown Telegram contact, who allegedly offered to pay them for damaging the tracks. To get paid, the teenagers documented their work on video.

The authorities are now deciding whether to press charges. The students can potentially be charged with sabotage or terrorism. Under the recently amended criminal law, a person aged 14 or older may face up to a life sentence if charged with one of these felonies.

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin signed the new anti-sabotage law on December 29, 2022.