11-year-old school student put on probation for ‘discrediting’ Russian army

An 11-year-old school student was put on probation in the city of Kamyshin in Russia’s Volgograd Region for “discrediting” the Russian Armed Forces on social media, Mediazona informed, citing local news outlet Infokam.

A school raid was held by local police officers on April 14 — April 22. As a result of the raid, 13 messages “of illegal, suicidal or extremist nature,” as well as messages “promoting criminal subcultures” were found on children’s social media pages. These messages were blocked, along with three websites with “illegal content,” local police informed.

In total, 146 administrative protocols were filed by police, including 21 charges filed against teenagers. Local police officers have held 2,045 lectures explaining liability for misdemeanours and inspected the households of 1,466 minors and their parents.

Two school students were sent to a juvenile detention centre, where “educational activities” were held “to develop an intolerance to extremism and violence” and to “explain the liability for taking part in unlawful public events, namely of an extremist nature,” local law enforcement stated. Police officers also explained the terms “tolerance,” “patriotism” and “extremism” to the children.

The goal of the raid was to “neutralise attempts to involve minors in destructive extremist and terrorist activity and in unlawful public events,” and to “counteract messages that promote suicidal behavior and school violence among teenagers.”