St. Petersburg authorities to raid shopping malls in search of ‘radically inclined youth’

Authorities in Russia’s second city St. Petersburg are planning to raid shopping malls in search of “radically inclined youth”, according to a draft resolution posted online.

The document was first brought to public attention by the Telegram channel Ostorozhno, Peterburg, and Novaya Gazeta Europe subsequently found it on the St. Petersburg Education Committee’s website.

The raids will be conducted by St. Petersburg's Committee on Youth Policy, together with activists from the Kontakt municipal youth social services centre and the city’s anti-extremist centre.

According to the draft resolution, official statistics show that crimes committed by minors rose by 26% in the first half of the year, with 339 such offences recorded in St. Petersburg, nearly half of which were classified as serious or especially serious.

In response, the document says, raids will take place in the city's shopping malls from August through September to identify teenagers with radical views, who will be singled out based on “distinctive features of their appearance, including clothing, accessories associated with informal antisocial groups, and other similar indicators”.

The Kontakt Centre and St. Petersburg's Committee on Youth Policy confirmed the planned raids to the outlet Post- but declined to elaborate further.

The document also instructs several city government committees to consider establishing “cyber patrols” of “active university students” tasked with monitoring minors' social media accounts for signs of “self-harm and other destructive behaviour,” including so-called “train surfing” and “rooftopping”, a trend that entails climbing and exploring the roofs of tall buildings.