The FSB and the Investigative Committee said they had detained a 17-year-old resident of Dagestan accused of recruiting teenagers for attacks on schools. According to the security services, he administered Telegram channels devoted to the theme of “Columbine,” with a combined audience of more than 200,000 subscribers, about 5,000 of whom were described as active participants.
The FSB claims the teenager’s activity was allegedly coordinated by Ukrainian intelligence services and was aimed at drawing Russian minors into armed attacks on educational institutions, attacks on transport facilities, and false bomb threats.
In interrogation footage released by the agency, the detainee says that in December 2025 he created an organization that claimed responsibility for the attack by 15-year-old Timofey Kulyamov on a school in Gorki-2 near Moscow. Investigators say Kulyamov wore a tactical vest with a No lives matter patch, a helmet marked NLM, and other symbols associated with far-right online communities.
“During questioning, the minor confirmed to the investigator his involvement in organizing an attempt on students at a secondary school in Domodedovo, which was prevented,” the Investigative Committee said.
The agency added that he also spoke about similar episodes in the Moscow region, St. Petersburg, Orenburg, Krasnoyarsk, Lipetsk, Kaluga, the Stavropol region, and Buryatia. In the video, the teenager also says that since 2023 he had been involved in false bomb threats that led to school evacuations in more than 100 cities.
He also claimed responsibility in the recording for arson attacks in the United States and Europe. According to his account, in January 2026 one member of the organization carried out more than 45 arsons in Fort Worth, Texas; this was followed by school evacuations in Texas and California, and in March 2026 two arsons each in Germany and Italy. Texas media had earlier reported the detention of a 17-year-old far-right teenager over the burning of five cars; police said he had recorded videos with a Nazi flag and threats of mass attacks, linking him to an unnamed foreign extremist organization.
Formally, the Dagestan teenager has been charged with one count only: preparation to murder schoolchildren, in connection with the Domodedovo episode. In FSB footage, he is detained in a mountainous rural area near private homes; the report suggests he was later likely flown to Moscow and placed in a pretrial detention center there.