A 16-year-old Russian teen has just been sentenced in real life for making a plot to destroy the country's domestic security agency inside a video game. In addition, the teen argues that he is "not a terrorist."
Teen Goes to Prison for Planning to Blow Up Virtual FSB
According to the story by Gizmodo, although going to prison is quite tough, one thing that might be a little harder is going to prison as a kid. The publication notes that this is something that can happen in Russia.
A certain 16 year old, Nikita Uvarov, was just recently found guilty by the official Russian military court for "training for terrorist activities." The teen was found guilty after he had reportedly been found "trying to blow up a virtual version of the FSB" while playing Minecraft.
What is the FSB Equivalent in the US?
For those that don't know, the FSB works as Russia's domestic agency and its US equivalent counterpart is actually the FBI as per Quora. In addition, Uvarov has received a sentence of five years in prison.
This, however, wasn't the first arrest of Uvarov as per an article by The Moscow Times. In 2020, Uvarov was reportedly arrested along with Denis Mikhailenko and Bogdan Andreyev for a "slew of activities" that was concluded by the government to be part of a "dangerous plot."
Other Cases Uvarov was Involved in
On top of their plans to reportedly blow up the virtual FSB, the trio reportedly also shared fliers that showed support to a Russian anarchist, Azat Miftakhov, who was arrested back in 2019 for vandalism.
Mikhailenko and Andreyev decided to plead guilty which reportedly got their sentences suspended. On the other hand, Uvarov decided to maintain "his innocence" which led to him being sent off to prison.
Case Follows String of Incidents on Young People Having Been Incarcerated
As of the moment, it remains unclear as to whether the government's contention is that "the video game was used as some sort of virtual training exercise for actual terroristic acts, or if these kids just happen to be pretending to blow up Russia's top domestic police agency."
As reported by The Guardian, however, this is actually part of some of the latest string of incidents within Russia where certain "young people have been incarcerated" related to flimsy cases on potentially preemptive "terrorism" charges.
Uvarov Denies Plans to Do Anything Violent Saying 'I Am Not a Terrorist'
Uvarov's statement is that he denies that he intentionally was planning to "do anything violent." as per the publication,the teen kept on stating "for the last time in this court I want to say: I am not a terrorist" during one of the recent hearings regarding the case.
As per The Moscow Times, Uvarov also noted that he just wants to finish his studies, get an education, and "go somewhere far away from here."
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Written by Urian B.
