Germany arrests 19-year-old accused of running groups that pushed teens toward self-harm and incited a deadly school stabbing in Russia

Germany's Federal Prosecutor's Office announced the arrest of a teenager identified as Kai M., who is suspected of belonging to two organizations that authorities describe as "right-wing extremist." According to German media reports, the suspect is 19 years old and lives near Trier. He has been in custody since March 17, 2026.

Prosecutors say Kai M. joined one of the groups no later than March 2024 and founded the other himself. According to investigators, members of both groups searched social media and gaming platforms for young people — mostly girls — whom they manipulated into degrading acts or self-harm, including suicide.

Link to a school stabbing in Russia

Prosecutors allege that Kai M., together with other members of one of the groups, also incited a teenager in Russia to fatally stab a child at school. Authorities did not specify which incident they were referring to.

The suspect is additionally accused of calling for the murder of a U.S. citizen and of influencing teenagers in the United States and Sweden to set vehicles on fire. He is also suspected of coercing a child from another European country into using a knife to inflict severe self-harm.

The case may be connected to an attack in December 2025 at a school in the village of Gorki-2 outside Moscow, where a 15-year-old ninth-grader, Timofey K., brought a knife and attacked a group of students. A 10-year-old fourth-grader, Kobiljon Aliev, was killed in that attack.