It's a bit gruesome to be punished for playing a videogame, but it's possible if you're Russian-born.
Nikita Uvarov, 16 years old, was recently found guilty of "training for terrorist activities" by a Russian military court, following the teen planned to blow up an online version of the FSB which is the country's domestic intelligence agency...while playing Minecraft. He was sentenced to five years of prison.
The Moscow Times reports that Uvarov and his two buddies, Bogdan Andreyev and Denis Mikhailenko, were arrested back in 2020 for a variety of activities that the government concluded were part of a risky plot. The trio were planning to blow up an online FSB and distributed flyers in support of Azat Miftakhov (a Russian anarchist) who was also detained for vandalism in 2019. Authorities claim they also used improvised explosives to attack abandoned buildings.
In the wake of all this, the boys were recently found guilty of "undergoing training for the purpose of carrying out terrorist acts," and delivered prison sentences. Andreyev, Mikhailenko and Mikhailenko both pleaded guilty to the charges and were sentenced with a suspended sentence. Uvarov however, insisted on his innocence and was sentenced to prison.
It's not totally clear if the government's contention is that the game was used as some sort of virtual training exercise for terrorist acts. Minecraft, the wildly loved video game, is known for allowing players to construct their own custom-designed structures.deepspaceii.com The Russian government has declared that it believes the kids were not just playing around, but were actively planning something more sinister.
