Volgograd gang convicted for recruiting teenagers into prostitution

A gang that recruited Russian teenagers into prostitution has been uncovered in Volgograd, and five members have been convicted and sentenced to prison terms. The Investigative Committee said five residents of Volzhsky were convicted of organizing prostitution and involving a minor. They received three to five years in a general-regime colony. The group was formed in 2021 and ran a brothel on Olomoutskaya Street. Earlier, authorities opened criminal cases in the Moscow region and Sverdlovsk region over a sect accused of pedophilia.