12 November 2025
Lowering the age of criminal responsibility for ‘sabotage-related offences’ will not stop real saboteurs.
By Leonid Nikitinsky
Source: Novaya gazeta
On November 11, the State Duma passed, in its second and third readings, a law lowering the age of criminal responsibility for “sabotage-related” crimes from 16 to 14, while simultaneously introducing into the Criminal Code a number of articles on the organisation, participation, facilitation, and training of sabotage activities (similar to those on terrorism). Today this law was approved by the Federation Council.
It would have been possible to limit ourselves to simply reporting this news, with the observation that it fits into the broader repressive trend, but let us nonetheless take a closer look at what law-enforcement agencies are calling ‘sabotage.’
Here is a typical story detailed by the website Mediazona*. In Arkhangelsk region, two teenagers were detained in a case concerning sabotage on the Northern Railway. They were charged with sabotage committed by a group of individuals acting in collusion. According to the investigative authorities, on August 4, one of the teenagers, born in 2009, was contacted by a ‘representative of Ukrainian intelligence services.’ The representative offered money in exchange for damaging railway infrastructure. The teenager agreed and brought in another teenager to help. Together, they set fire to relay cabinets at the Konosha-1 station. One of the detainees said the teenagers initially had no money for petrol, and the funds were transferred to their bank account by the ‘handler.’
The teenager mentioned in the report had either just reached the age of 16 or was close to reaching it as of August. Whether he can be held criminally liable will depend on his exact date of birth (the same applies to his accomplice). The amendments recently added to Article 20 of the Criminal Code allow for the prosecution of minors as young as 14 for ‘sabotage offences.’ This threshold has already been established for such offences as ‘terrorist attacks’ and ‘deliberate destruction or damage to property’ under aggravating circumstances (Article 167 of the Criminal Code).
A sharp increase in crimes of this kind – arson attacks on phone masts, railway relay cabinets, and, more rarely, cars – has been observed since the start of the Special Military Operation: in 2024, the number of people prosecuted somewhat decreased, but in 2025 there was another sharp surge.
For some time, judicial practice fluctuated between classifying such crimes as the intentional destruction of property (up to five years under Article 167, Part 2, CC RF) or as sabotage (12 to 20 years if committed by a group of individuals acting in collusion under Article 281 CC RF).
Arguably, the classification of such cases under Article 281 of the Criminal Code is legally more accurate: although the motive is most often the promised payment, the consequences of destroying or damaging infrastructure facilities fall within the indirect intent of the perpetrators. The mystery lies elsewhere – namely, in the advance knowledge that no such (serious) consequences would follow. As railway transport specialists explain, when a relay cabinet is disabled, all the signals switch to red, meaning that such actions may cause delays in rail traffic (rarely significant), but not a catastrophe. The same applies to phone masts and other such infrastructure.
In all such cases of sabotage, only the direct perpetrators have been punished; the organizers and instigators have not been identified and most often feature in investigative documents as ‘Ukrainian intelligence services.’ The question is: what benefit does damaging railway relay cabinets bring to the enemy, especially in regions far from combat zones (as in our example, Arkhangelsk)? It’s hardly worth the effort.
Saboteurs are often caught right at the crime scene or even during the preparation stage. This may indicate that some of these cases are indeed the work of provocateurs from intelligence services – only not Ukrainian ones.
Lowering the age of criminal responsibility to 14 will increase the number of ‘saboteurs’ caught, but it will not stop real, adult, and skilled saboteurs capable of causing truly serious damage and harm. Only a positive outcome of peace negotiations will stop them.
* Listed by the Russian Ministry of Justice as a ‘foreign agent.’
Translated by Annabel Pedgley
