Dangerous elements are being looked for in the youth environment

Director of the Federal Security Service of Russia Alexander Bortnikov held a meeting of the National Anti-Terrorism Committee (NAC) on April 11 in Moscow to improve the prevention of terrorism in the field of education and youth. In addition to Bortnikov, the meeting was attended by Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov, members of the committee and heads of federal executive bodies, as well as chairmen of the anti-terrorist commissions of a number of Russian subjects.

The meeting was held behind closed doors, but from the message on the website of the NAC it can be concluded that the main issue at the meeting was the fight against the involvement of the younger generation in sabotage-terrorist and extremist activities.

Representatives of the committee noted that in the context of Russia’s special military operation, the Ukrainian special services and the West launched an aggressive ideological and recruitment indoctrination of young Russians. According to the NAC, since February 2022, 118 terrorist crimes have been prevented in Russia, the perpetrators of which were young people and teenagers, including minors. According to the portal of legal statistics of the Prosecutor General’s Office, in 2022, 992 persons who committed crimes of a terrorist nature were identified in Russia. For comparison, in 2010, 402 such persons were identified.

“The efforts of members of international terrorist organizations to destabilize the situation in the North Caucasus are not weakening,” the message on the NAC website also says.

Bortnikov in his speech also drew attention to the popularity of “shooting movements” such as “columbine” (banned in the Russian Federation) and other destructive subcultures, under the influence of which students attempt armed attacks on educational institutions. According to him, some of them are coordinated by Ukraine.

As a result of the meeting, the participants came to the conclusion that the improvement of the system of prevention of terrorism should become a priority for their activities. Federal and regional authorities will approach each identified fact of involvement of teenagers in terrorist activities with an in-depth analysis in order to develop preventive measures to eliminate the causes and conditions conducive to their radicalization, the NAC promised.

In addition, a number of humanitarian disciplines will be organized in Russian schools and higher educational institutions, including issues of preventing terrorism. Such disciplines, according to the committee, will help the formation of an “anti-terrorist worldview” among students. In the new subjects of Russia (LPR, DPR, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions), it is proposed to increase attention to counteracting the ideology of terrorism and neo-Nazism among the youth.

First Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Security and Anti-Corruption Ernest Valeev, in an interview with Vedomosti, noted that there are enough legal means to counter terrorism. “In principle, in recent years we have almost exhausted our possibilities in terms of legal means of increasing responsibility for these crimes. Further, it’s already strong only if you come up with it, ”he said. In his opinion, the issue of strengthening security lies on a different plane. “It is very difficult to identify, investigate, prove. Law enforcement problems have always been difficult,” said Valeev.

Sergei Goncharov, the founder and head of the Association of Veterans of the Alpha anti-terror unit, agrees with him, pointing to the specific work of the special services. At the same time, he fears that the main problem of working with youth may not go away, because, in his opinion, the Ukrainian intelligence, the SBU and intelligence agencies of NATO countries have great recruitment opportunities: “This is happening because now on the territory of our country there is where According to various estimates, from 5 million to 6 million Ukrainians are refugees and those who have worked and are working with us. Secondly, there are many families in Russia where the mother or father is Ukrainian, and no one knows how these children were brought up and in what perspective (for the Russian Federation or against the Russian Federation). He also believes that propaganda from the Russian side works worse than the Ukrainian one: “I don’t want to say bad words, but not only weak, but stupid in the process that we are trying to lead.”

“It is impossible to strengthen security at every cafe and restaurant where some politicians gather. The work of the special services consists in two things – this is a cool intelligence and operational work and work with informing the population. No one else came up with,” concluded Goncharov.

It is hardly possible to tighten the law to a greater extent, Alexei Makarkin, first vice-president of the Center for Political Technologies, believes. The return of the death penalty requires a political decision, therefore, in all likelihood, some aspects of the specific work of the special services will be changed.

The discussion of the NAC took place against the backdrop of the recent terrorist attack, as a result of which military commander Vladlen Tatarsky was killed in St. Petersburg on April 2. The next day, 26-year-old Daria Trepova, a suspect in the murder, was detained. She admitted that she brought a bust to the creative evening of a journalist, which subsequently exploded. The NAC claims that the attack was organized with the help of Ukrainian special services and agents from among the supporters of the FBK (recognized as a foreign agent, as well as an extremist organization and banned, then liquidated).