Received 6 years in prison for “attempting a terrorist attack”: a 17-year-old teenager was convicted in Russia

In Russia, a teenager was sentenced to imprisonment for attempting to set fire to a military registration and enlistment office / Collage 24 Channel (photo from RosSMI)

In Russia, 17-year-old schoolboy Yegor Balazeikin was sentenced to 6 years in prison. He was accused of “attempted terrorism” for trying to set fire to the military registration and enlistment office.

This is reported by a number of Russian media. By the way, the teenager admitted attempts to set fire to the military registration and enlistment office, however, he does not agree with the wording of the charges, Channel 24 reports.

Teenager convicted of terrorism

Yegor Balazeikin, a 17-year-old student of St. Petersburg gymnasium No. 166, was sentenced to 6 years in prison. The corresponding decision was made by the First Western District Military Court of St. Petersburg.

The teenager was detained on March 1, 2023. He was accused of “attempted terrorist attack” after a schoolboy tried to set fire to a military registration and enlistment office. According to investigators, on February 28, 2023, a schoolboy threw a bottle with an inflammatory substance (Molotov cocktail) at the door of a military registration and enlistment office in the city of Kirovsk, Leningrad Region, but no fire occurred.

At first, the teenager was detained for hooliganism. Subsequently, the case was reclassified as intentional destruction or damage to property. However, Russian law enforcement officers did not stop there and increased the charge of “attempted terrorist attack.”

According to the court decision, Balazeikin will serve 6 years in a juvenile correctional colony. The prosecution stated that the teenager must understand that the duty officer could have died at the military registration and enlistment office. The mitigating circumstance in court was Balazeikin’s age, his state of health (the young man has autoimmune hepatitis and the second stage of liver fibrosis) and his confession, but prosecutors called the aggravating circumstance “committing a crime during the period of mobilization.”

The teenager admitted guilt, but does not agree with the charges

Yegor Balazeikin was detained when he was 16 years old. The young man “celebrated” his 17th birthday in a pre-trial detention center. By the way, the teenager turned out to be bolder than most Russians, because he openly opposed the so-called “svo” and declared that he was “guilty of indifference.”

The guy, commenting on the charges, admitted the fact of attempting to set fire to the military registration and enlistment office. However, he did not agree with the wording and motives put forward by the prosecutors.

I will have a sentence, and I understand why I will be in prison: I am to blame for my indifference. At the beginning of the war I didn’t care, but this is the same as supporting. In the pre-trial detention center they react to me differently, many negatively, but negatively – it’s better than nothing,” Balazeikin said.

The student also said that he could not come to terms with the idea that the Russian military had broken into the territory of Ukraine. He began to highlight the topic of war and encouraged people to look at the situation realistically. However, according to Balazeikin, the conversations were in vain, so he decided to act and tried to set fire to the military registration and enlistment office.

The teenager also said that he was also affected by the death of his uncle, who died in the war. However, the prosecution stated that the student cannot “hide behind the death of a loved one.”