14‑year‑old Viktor Kalinin added to Russia’s terrorist‑extremist list

Viktor Kalinin, a 14‑year‑old from St Petersburg, was detained in early July after allegedly setting fire to a fuse box on a railway line in the Leningrad region. Russian authorities placed him on the federal terrorist and extremist register, making him the youngest person ever listed.

The register now contains roughly 21,000 names, of which about 20 are 14‑year‑olds. Human‑rights group Department One reports that the share of minors among new entries has risen eightfold since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with one in twelve new listings being underage. Officials have blamed Ukrainian intelligence for encouraging such acts, while experts point to the war, rising xenophobic rhetoric and social isolation as factors driving radicalisation among Russian youth. In November 2023 Russia lowered the criminal‑responsibility age for terrorism‑related offences to 14.