Teen Sentenced to Jail After Being Accused of Using Minecraft to Train for Terrorist Activities

gamerant.com:

According to sources, three Siberian teenagers have been sentenced for terrorism in Russia due to plotting to blow up a Minecraft recreation of the Federal Security Service's Moscow headquarters. The teenagers were arrested back in 2020 at 14 years of age due to being suspected of «undergoing training for the purpose of carrying out terrorist activities.»

Recreating various real-world buildings is one of the players' favorite pastimes in Minecraft, though the Russian government does not seem to share this fascination. The final result of the teenagers' arrest and subsequent sentencing is that one of them will need to serve a five-year sentence in a penal colony, while the others got suspended sentences due to pleading guilty.

Minecraft Player Recreates Life-Sized Cold War Submarines

While some Minecraft players keep busy building working tractors, the three unlucky teenagers showed interest in the FSB's Lubyanka offices. Specifically, they were accused of recreating the building in Minecraft with the intent of using this recreation to train for a future real-world terrorist attack. They were originally arrested due to hanging up leaflets that said «the FSB is the main terrorist,» according to The Moscow Times, as well as supporting a proclaimed local anarchist, Azat Miftakhov.

After they were arrested, the FSB searched through the teenagers' phones and discovered footage of them making pyrotechnics and Molotov cocktails, as per the reports, as well as plotting to blow up their virtual rendition of the Lubyanka offices. Minecraft recreations include both fantasy and real-world projects, such as the Minecraft rendition of the Eiffel Tower. These are usually not nearly as realistic as the source suggests the FBS recreation may