Three Siberian teenagers have been charged with terrorism over an alleged plot to blow up a security building which they had built on the popular construction game Minecraft, according to reports.
The three juvenile suspects, all aged 14, were accused by prosecutors of training for the purpose of carrying out terrorist activities following their arrests in June.
Investigators said that the three "underage supporters of anarchist views" took part in joint training by reading "forbidden literature" and watching videos on the manufacture of explosives. The suspects were also said to have trained in terrorist activities in an abandoned house, wastelands and on construction sites.
It has since been revealed that the boys are under investigation for plotting to blow up a regional Federal Security Service (FSB) which they had made on the brick-building game Minecraft.
According to the Baza Telegram news channel, which The Moscow Timesreports has links to Russia's security service, authorities uncovered the plot after seizing the teenagers' phones.
The trio were arrested after two of them posted leaflets around the Russian town of Kansk in Krasnoyarsk region expressing support for Azat Mifstakhov.
The mathematics student and anarchist from Moscow is currently on trial accused of being involved in a group act of vandalism resulting in a broken window on a building belonging to the pro-Kremlin political party United Russia.
The suspects are also accused of placing leaflets on the real life FSB building which they created in the Minecraft game.
According to the Krasnoyarsk-based ngs24.ru news website, citing unnamed law enforcement sources, the boys wanted to blow up the real FSB building and were found in possession of explosives when they were arrested in June.
The suspects are now facing more serious charges of organizing a terrorist community and participating in it.
Two of the boys are said to have pleaded guilty, but only investigators obtained their admission under duress with help from a state-appointed attorney, Baza reported.
The pair were put under house arrest, with the third suspect, who pleaded not guilty to the charges, being held in a pre-trial detention center for the past six months.
"It's not every day that you find yourself in such situations, you don't know what is possible and what is not," the mother of the 14-year-old who has been held for the past six months told Baza.
The boy faces a maximum of 10 years in jail if found guilty of the charges.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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Ewan Palmer is a Newsweek News Reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on US politics, domestic policy ... Read more
