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

The agency claimed the group acted under Ukrainian guidance. The suspects, aged 14 to 17, were recruited through online messaging platforms. Investigators stated they were contacted in October via a Telegram group advertising quick earnings and were offered money for carrying out attacks.

According to the FSB, the teenagers later collected an improvised explosive device from a concealed location and traveled to a section of the Druzhba pipeline. Video released by the agency shows officers detaining the suspects, including removing them from a passenger car.

In the footage, the teenagers confessed that, in addition to planning to target the oil pipeline, they carried out arson attacks on instructions from individuals who claimed to be officers of Ukraine’s SBU security service. They said the attacks targeted railway signaling equipment, electrical substations, and transformer boxes.

Searches were conducted at the suspects’ homes, and the boys were remanded in custody. The FSB reported that a criminal case has been opened against them for preparing to commit sabotage, with potential prison sentences of up to 20 years.

Moscow has repeatedly accused Kiev of orchestrating numerous attacks and sabotage operations targeting Russian infrastructure during the Ukraine conflict. On Monday, the FSB also warned that Ukrainian intelligence services were using phone-scam tactics to dupe Russians out of money before pressuring them into carrying out what it described as terrorist acts. Investigators are working on cases involving ten unrelated individuals across five regions, with compliance potentially leading to prison terms of up to 20 years.