Russia adds 14-year-old to terrorist registry, marking youngest entry to date

Russia's Federal Financial Monitoring Service (Rosfinmonitoring) added a 14-year-old teenager from St. Petersburg to its registry of terrorists and extremists on July 30, according to a Telegram channel that tracks updates to the list. Viktor Kalinin, who turned 14 just three months earlier, was detained in early July for allegedly setting fire to a railway relay cabinet.

The human rights group Department One commented on the development, highlighting that minors are the fastest-growing category in the registry. Since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the share of teenagers among new entries has increased more than eightfold, with every twelfth person added now being a minor. The group also noted that prosecution practices have dropped to the lowest age of criminal responsibility, which is 14.

According to Department One, by the beginning of summer 2026 the registry contained over 21,000 people, including 20 individuals who were 14 years old. The youngest age group began to appear in the registry no later than 2024.

Kalinin is the youngest person ever to be added to the list, the report said. The case has drawn attention to the rising number of minors being labeled as extremists in Russia.