Russian Teenager Jailed for Planning to Blow Up Buildings In “Minecraft”
A Russian teenager aged 16 has been sentenced to five years. He allegedly plotted to demolish a virtual structure of the popular survival and crafting game Minecraft.
The Guardian reports Nikita Uvarov has been sentenced behind closed doors at a Siberia military court. Pavel Chikov, a lawyer, said he would be held in prison and serve his sentence in a penal colony for ‘training terrorist activities’.
Chikov also stated that the two other defendants in the case were cleared of criminal charges and given suspended sentences after they cooperated with authorities.
Uvarov’s sentence is not the first. The Guardian notes that Russian President Vladamir Putin has had some young Russians sent to prison on preemptive terrorist charges.
Uvarov and two men were initially detained in 2020 when they were found handing out leaflets supporting a Moscow activist and mathematician who was being tried for vandalism. One of the leaflets was placed on a local brand FSB, Russia’s domestic security agency and successor of the KGB.
Police reportedly found messages on the phones of the three teens that mentioned plans to detonate an FSB building they had constructed in Minecraft. Investigators claim that evidence was also shown that the teens were creating explosive devices and setting them off in abandoned buildings.
They were initially charged with participating in terrorist organisations, but there was insufficient evidence to support this charge.
The teenager pleaded innocent and said he would be released from prison “with a clear mind and dignity.”
He said, “For the final time in this court, I want to state: I am no terrorist.”
