Alexander Bastrykin, the head of Russia’s Investigative Committee, said he supports lowering the age of criminal responsibility to 12. He made the statement on June 26 at the St. Petersburg Legal Forum.
“We submitted a proposal to lower the age of criminal responsibility to 12, but they did not agree with us,” Bastrykin said.
According to the Investigative Committee chief, today’s teenagers, in his view, mature more quickly and already commit crimes at 12 to 13 years old, while avoiding criminal liability.
Bastrykin also cited figures on student attacks on schools. He said there were six such incidents in Russia in 2025, and already eight have been recorded since the start of 2026.
Similar proposals have been made before
Over the past year, proposals to lower the age of criminal responsibility in Russia have been voiced repeatedly. In December 2025, LDPR leader Leonid Slutsky proposed criminal liability from age 12 for murders and crimes against the sexual inviolability of minors.
In January 2026, St. Petersburg Legislative Assembly deputy Alexey Zinchuk of the Communist Party proposed liability starting at 13 for murder, kidnapping, rape, theft, and terrorist attacks. Bastrykin himself had also proposed in 2025 lowering the age of liability for drug trafficking from 16 to 14.