A 13-year-old teenager was found guilty of plotting a terrorist attack in Dagestan.

A court in Astrakhan has remanded a 13-year-old boy to a temporary detention center after he said after his arrest that he was planning a terrorist attack in Dagestan.

As reported by the "Caucasian Knot," on October 19, it was reported that an 11th-grade student from a school in the Dagestani village of Khuchni was arrested on suspicion of participating in a terrorist organization.

A minor child was detained by security forces on suspicion of preparing terrorist attacks, according to the Sovetsky District Court of Astrakhan, a publication brought to the attention of Interfax.

The court heard the administrative case of a 13-year-old teenager at the request of the head of the police department in Astrakhan, who requested that the boy be placed in a temporary detention center for juvenile offenders.

Assembled a homemade explosive device for the purpose of committing terrorist acts.

"The court found that M., born in 2012, At his place of residence, he was assembling a homemade explosive device with the intent of committing terrorist acts in the Astrakhan Region and the Republic of Dagestan. Furthermore, he created a community on the Telegram messenger to teach subscribers how to make explosive devices. During an inspection of the crime scene, a homemade explosive (as stated in the publication - Caucasian Knot note) was seized," the court's VKontakte post states. The court dismissed the criminal case "due to the absence of elements of crime in the actions of a minor, since M. had not reached the age of criminal responsibility – 14 years old."

"During the survey, M. himself explained that in the early summer of 2025, he began communicating through the Telegram messenger with a man who serves the Islamic State (a terrorist organization banned in Russia by the court. - Note by the "Caucasian Knot"). They discussed religious topics. Later, he created his own group with the goal of creating Sharia (as stated in the publication. - Note by the "Caucasian Knot"). In mid-December 2025, he had to disband this community, since he first needs to join a terrorist community, without which he cannot be trained and guided. He decided for himself to commit a terrorist act on the territory of the Republic "Dagestan," the publication notes.

The court upheld the administrative claim. "Minor M. was placed in a juvenile detention center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for the Astrakhan Region for a period of no more than 30 days," the statement reads.

"Caucasian Knot" also reported on criminal cases opened in 2025 against teenagers in other regions of southern Russia. For example, on June 30, a 17-year-old student at a Volgograd college was taken into custody on suspicion of creating an extremist group. Three 17-year-olds, whom investigators believe to be his associates, were placed under house arrest. Two more suspected members of the group, 15-year-old schoolchildren, escaped prosecution due to their age.

On May 19, nine people, including eight teenagers, suspected of plotting attacks on police officers, were taken into custody in Stavropol Krai. Some of the detainees told security forces that they swore an oath to a terrorist organization without understanding the meaning of what they were saying.

"He asked me to say some words, and I said them. Then, a little later, I found out that this [was necessary] to join this group," said one of the detainees. "He approached my brother and me and said, 'You must repeat after me.' We repeated after him, and after we repeated, he said that we had sworn an oath," said another teenager.