MOSCOW, April 3. /TASS/. Ukrainian intelligence agencies continue to try to recruit Russian teenagers to commit acts of sabotage, Russian Investigative Committee Chairman Alexander Bastrykin said in an interview with TASS.
"An analysis of the circumstances of such crimes committed by teenagers makes it clear that Ukrainian intelligence agencies, in particular, have stepped up their illegal activities and keep trying to lead teenagers astray by recruiting them to carry out subversive operations. They entice them with promises of money," he pointed out.
According to Bastrykin, investigations show that "the teenagers that commit crimes against public security, the foundations of the constitutional order and state security are often motivated by ethnic hatred, and support terrorist and Nazi ideas."
The crimes include arson at military draft offices, railway sites and other facilities. The Investigative Committee chief noted that depending on the circumstances, such offenses can be classified as terrorist attacks or acts of sabotage. "All these are especially serious crimes that carry sentences of up to life in prison," he warned. Bastrykin noted that in many cases, the young people do not realize the stiff penalty for such crimes and begin to reflect on that only after being detained and told what punishment they were facing.