Siberian Teen Sentenced to Prison for ‘Terrorist’ Minecraft Activities

Being sentenced to jail for taking part in a online game sounds fairly tough, however apparently it can occur to you if you happen to’re a child in Russia.

Nikita Uvarov, who’s 16 years previous, was lately discovered responsible of “training for terrorist activities” by a Russian navy courtroom, after the teenager plotted to explode a digital model of the FSB, the nation’s home intelligence company…whereas taking part in Minecraft. He has now been sentenced to 5 years in jail.

The Moscow Times reports that Uvarov and his two buddies, Bogdan Andreyev and Denis Mikhailenko, have been arrested again in 2020 for a slew of actions that the federal government got here to conclude have been a part of a harmful plot. In addition to planning to blow up a digital model of the FSB, the trio additionally distributed fliers meant to indicate help for Azat Miftakhov, a Russian anarchist who was arrested for vandalism in 2019. Authorities say in addition they experimented with improvised explosive gadgets, utilizing them on deserted buildings.

As a results of all this, the boys have been lately discovered responsible of “undergoing training for the purpose of carrying out terrorist activities,” and delivered jail sentences. Andreyev and Mikhailenko pleaded responsible and subsequently had their sentences suspended. Uvarov, in the meantime, maintained his innocence and was subsequently despatched off to jail.

It’s not completely clear if the federal government’s rivalry is that the online game was used as some form of digital coaching train for precise terroristic acts, or if these children simply occurred to be pretending to blow up Russia’s prime home police company. Minecraft, the wildly well-liked video sport, is thought for permitting gamers to construct their very own customizable constructions. The Russian authorities has made it clear that it believes the teenagers weren’t simply horsing round, however have been actively planning one thing sinister.

However, The Guardian reports that that is the most recent in a string of incidents in Russia whereby younger individuals have been incarcerated on preemptive “terrorism” costs associated to flimsy circumstances.

Uvarov has denied that he was really planning on doing something violent. According to The Guardian, the teenager during a current listening to mentioned, “For the last time in this court I want to say: I am not a terrorist.”