Criminological Aspects of Preventing Manipulations and Extremist Recruitment Practices Against Minors

Introduction: the presented study highlights the most common ways of involving minors in the commission of extremist crimes. The article suggests organizational and legal means aimed at creating the necessary barriers to the spread of extremist ideology among minors. Materials and Methods: the empirical basis of the study consists of the provisions of the current legislation of the Russian Federation regulating the field of countering the involvement of minors in extremist activities; statistical data provided by the Main Information and Analytical Center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, reflecting quantitative and qualitative characteristics of extremist crimes; as well as officially published data of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation concerning crimes of this category committed with the participation of minors. The methodological framework of the study relies on the dialectical approach to the understanding of social phenomena. The research employed several specific scientific methods, including statistical, comparative-legal, and formal-logical analysis. Results: the article examines the current state of extremist crimes associated with the involvement of minors. Based on the conducted analysis, the author substantiates the hypothesis regarding the expediency of incorporating into the national anti-extremism system a set of measures aimed at the rehabilitation of minors, the establishment of mechanisms for blocking channels of extremist activity financing involving them, and the creation of organizational and legal conditions designed to reduce the negative impact of extremist ideology on minors in the Internet space. Discussion and Conclusions: the article argues that special legislative attention should be directed toward developing legal mechanisms for responding to the changing forms and methods of involving minors in extremist crimes. It emphasizes the necessity of designing and implementing comprehensive legal instruments to ensure the timely detection, prevention, and suppression of such activities, taking into account the dynamics of the digital environment and the transformation of channels used for disseminating extremist ideology.