Russian police arrest alleged Blue Whale suicide ‘game’ mastermind

A Russian computer geek is under investigation as a mastermind of the notorious Blue Whale suicide ‘game’.

Nikita Nearonov, 22, is being probed over claims he groomed ten ‘underage’ girls for death operating mainly from his home near Moscow.

But some 40 teenagers were members of his social media group, and detectives are still trying to track down other potential victims hidden behind secrecy settings.

Blue Whale involves brainwashing vulnerable teenagers over a period of 50 days and urging them to complete gruesome tasks before they are told to take their own lives. 

Nearonov was described as a ‘very smart’ computer geek who believed teenagers were ‘wicked’ and did ‘not deserve to live’, according to reports citing police. 

Russian computer geek Nikita Nearonov (pictured during his arrest) is under investigation as a mastermind of a notorious online suicide ‘game’ who ‘thought teenagers were wicked and did not deserve to live’

Nikita Nearonov (pictured), 22, is being probed over claims he groomed ten 'underage' girls for death operating mainly from his home near Moscow

Nikita Nearonov (pictured), 22, is being probed over claims he groomed ten 'underage' girls for death operating mainly from his home near Moscow

Nikita Nearonov (pictured), 22, is being probed over claims he groomed ten ‘underage’ girls for death operating mainly from his home near Moscow

Officers believe Nearonov was a ‘major and dangerous’ perpetrator of the social media ‘game’, although Nearonov has not confessed and insists he was just being ‘friendly’ to the girls.

In two of the ten cases for which he has been charged, girls aged 14 and 17 are known to have survived. If convicted he faces up to six years in jail relating to these alleged victims.

In eight other new cases, detectives have not made clear whether suspected victims are alive or dead. 

He selected potential victims from vulnerable teenagers he connected to online.

He was sending messages and setting tasks ‘almost around the clock, from home or at work’ encouraging them to activities leading to suicide, said a law enforcement source. 

Nearonov is from a ‘good family’ and had a high-flying and well-paid job in Moscow as a financial analyst, say reports.

Nearonov was described as a 'very smart' computer geek who believed teenagers were 'wicked' and did 'not deserve to live', according to reports citing police

Nearonov was described as a ‘very smart’ computer geek who believed teenagers were ‘wicked’ and did ‘not deserve to live’, according to reports citing police

Acting as a death group ‘curator’ was his ‘hobby’, said police. But he is also accused of training other masterminds in the lethal game.

Operating mainly from his home near Moscow, Nearonov found victims in different Russian regions – and one in Latvia, an EU country, said police.

He communicated with them using Russian social media VK and messages via Telegram.

State investigator Dmitry Asharin said: ‘He insists that he wished these girls only well.

‘He thinks: “They were hopeless, I was only helping them”.’

Nearonov was detained but not named last year.

He is in detention in Chelyabinsk – a city where one of his victims lived – pending investigations.

Asharin said: ‘Experts have proved that during his communication to a girl from Chelyabinsk region he used methods of psychiatric pressure, and as a result he inflicted a serious health damage to the victim.

‘The girl developed a psychiatric failure – her suicidal thoughts became stronger.

‘She needed medical treatment.’

He has been charged in this case with ‘pushing her to suicide’ and ‘inflicting serious healthy damage’.

Similar charges have been brought over a case in Amur region.

‘The enormous amount of online material found by police leaves no doubts that this young man was involved in all this and that he did it for a purpose,’ said Asharin. 

Overall, around two dozen Russian suicides are officially linked to the trend which has been branded ‘evil’ by parents and police, but politicians and the media have suggested the figure runs into the hundreds.

Investigative newspaper Novaya Gazeta alleged that of 130 suicides of children in Russia between November 2015 and April 2016 almost all were ‘members of one group or other on the internet’. 

Police released two images of Nearonov’s online messaging with a girl called Kristina.

They claim to have far more compromising material seized from his computers and phones, and those of alleged victims.

For confidential support call the Samaritans in the UK on 08457 90 90 90, visit a local Samaritans branch or click here for details.



Read more at DailyMail.co.uk