FSB detains 2 teens plotting armed attack on Saratov school
MOSCOW. Feb 26 (Interfax) - Two 15-year-olds have been detained in Saratov for plotting an attack on an educational establishment; a criminal case has been opened, a representative of the Federal Security Service (FSB)'s public relations center told Interfax on Wednesday.
"The Russian Federal Security Service has put an end to preparations for an armed attack on an educational establishment of Saratov. The organizers are two citizens of the Russian Federation born in 2005 and aligned with various online groups advocating the ideology of mass murders and suicide," the representative said.
The teens were detained in a deserted bomb shelter, where they were storing a sawed-off hunting gun in a cache, the FSB said. The teens were also planning to use improvised incendiary liquids. They found the liquid production recipe online.
The Russian Investigative Committee's investigative department in the Saratov region opened a criminal case on counts of a conspiracy to murder two people or more.
The FSB public relations center posted a video of the interrogation of the two teenagers.
One of the detainees said "revenge" in answer to a question concerning what the goal of the attack was.
The teen also said he did not care about the number of casualties, and the other teen said he "was expecting about 40 people" to get hurt.
One of the teens said he took an interest in mass school murders about a year ago.
The other teen featured in the video said the attack was due to take place in May.
The FSB reported averting similar teen attacks in Kerch last week.
According to the FSB public relations center, about 150 extremist youth groups have been identified online and more than 50 armed school attacks have been prevented since 2018.