A 15-year-old defendant in a terrorism case in St. Petersburg has been ordered to pre-trial detention by the Dzerzhinsky District Court. The teenager will remain in custody until at least August 4.

The court granted the investigator’s request on June 7, according to the United Press Service of the Courts of St. Petersburg. The decision comes after the eighth-grader allegedly set fire to a Toyota Camry on Zakharievskaya Street on the evening of June 5 and then fled the scene.

The car that was damaged belonged to an employee of the Center for Financial Support of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

According to reports, the young man was manipulated by telephone scammers who, posing as government officials, threatened him with being sent to an orphanage. The Investigative Committee stated that the teenager carried out instructions received via a messenger app from unknown individuals. He doused the car with fuel, believing it supposedly contained an explosive device.

The schoolboy has been charged with terrorism, but he has not admitted guilt.