Four Russian teenagers have been detained on suspicion of planning acts of sabotage and arson targeting critical transport and energy infrastructure in Russia’s Lipetsk Region, including a plot against a key oil pipeline, according to the Federal Security Service (FSB) on Tuesday.
The agency reported that the suspects, aged 14 to 17, were recruited through online messaging platforms. Investigators stated they were contacted in October via a Telegram group advertising quick earnings and were offered money for carrying out attacks.
According to the FSB, the teenagers later collected an improvised explosive device from a concealed location and traveled to a section of the Druzhba pipeline. Video released by the agency shows officers detaining the suspects, including removing them from a passenger car.
In the footage, the teenagers confessed to having carried out arson attacks on instructions from individuals who claimed to be officers of Ukraine’s SBU. They stated their targets included railway signaling equipment, electrical substations, and transformer boxes.
Searches were conducted at the suspects’ homes, and the boys were remanded in custody. The FSB indicated a criminal case had been opened against them for preparing to commit sabotage, which carries a potential sentence of up to 20 years in prison.
Moscow has repeatedly accused Kyiv of orchestrating numerous attacks and sabotage operations targeting Russian infrastructure during the Ukraine conflict.
Separately, on Monday, the FSB warned that Ukrainian intelligence services were using phone-scam tactics to defraud Russians out of money and then pressure them into committing acts it described as terrorist. The agency cited cases involving ten unrelated individuals across five regions, noting that compliance with such demands could result in prison sentences of up to 20 years.
