National Anti-Terrorism Committee say that the average age of terrorism convicts decreases

“Terrorism is changing, and one of the essential changes is the rejuvenation of the terrorist contingent. Today, up to 70% of terrorists are young people under 35,” said official representative of the National Anti-Terrorism Committee (NAC) Andrey Przhezdomsky at the XVII All-Russian Specialized Forum entitled “Modern Security Systems - Antiterror.”

The representative of the NAC indicated that 17 teenagers became participants in terrorist crimes over the past two years. He also noted that the average age of participants in terrorist crimes is decreasing.

According to him, cases of teenagers participating in terrorist activities were recorded, in particular, in Primorye and Tyumen. “Adolescents' inability to think critically leads them to believing anything, so it is very easy to impose a few very primitive postulates on them even withiout any indoctrination,” the NAC representative added.

Przhezdomsky also mentioned the stepping up of activities of foreign terrorist organizations, as well as the trend of using social media for recruitment.