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State Duma Passes Final Reading of Law Imposing Life Terms for Recruiting Minors Into Terror or Sabotage

Lawmakers present the cross‑party measure as a child‑protection response to recruiters targeting youth on social networks during the "special military operation."

Overview

  • The law establishes punishment up to life imprisonment for inducing minors to take part in terrorist or sabotage activities.
  • Penalties for such recruitment include 10–20 years in prison with fines of 500,000 to 1,000,000 rubles as alternatives to life terms.
  • Criminal responsibility is lowered to age 14 for a range of terrorism‑ and sabotage‑related offenses, including assistance, training, organization, and participation.
  • Statutes of limitations are abolished for sabotage offenses, with suspended sentences barred for participation in a sabotage community and parole limited to after serving at least 75% of the term.
  • Organizer liability is expanded so leaders are responsible for all crimes committed by a sabotage community, with courts barred from imposing lighter punishments than the statute prescribes; the bill was co‑sponsored by 419 deputies including Vyacheslav Volodin and Irina Yarovaya.