Russia's Investigative Committee reports 39 cases involving 57 minors sent to courts

Russia's Investigative Committee said on October 12 that transport investigators had sent 39 criminal cases involving 57 defendants aged 14–17 to courts since the start of the year.

Spokeswoman Svetlana Petrenko said the cases concerned alleged arson attacks on transport infrastructure, communications base stations and other facilities. The committee attributed the alleged assignments to Ukrainian special services.

The figures cover cases submitted by the committee's western, central and eastern interregional transport investigation departments. Sending a case to court does not itself establish a defendant's guilt.

Petrenko separately reported convictions of 18 defendants aged 14–31, with prison sentences ranging from five to 21 years. That age range includes adults, so the conviction total should not be described as a count exclusively of minors.

In one Chelyabinsk region case, a 21-year-old received a 20-year sentence for organising railway sabotage involving four 17-year-olds. The teenagers received sentences of five to eight years, according to the committee.

Petrenko also cited a Tambov region case involving railway equipment damaged at Bokino station in December 2023. Three defendants received sentences of 21, 13 and six years. The committee's latest account reports court outcomes rather than new incidents on October 12.