Children of war. Russian and Ukrainian teenagers on recruitment and repression networks

In 2023, fresh types of offences related to sabotage and diversion were introduced into Russian criminal law: “aid in sabotage”, “participation in the diversion group”, “training for sabotage”. According to Verstka, the first sentences against minors began to appear on these grounds: 1 sentenced in 2023, 13 in 2024 and 13 in the first half of 2025. According to The Moscow Times, many of these cases afraid the arson of supplemental commissions and railway relay cabinets that investigators qualified as “terrorism” or “sabotage”.