A 17-year-old girl has been exposed as the centre of the Blue Whale suicide death group, which caused 'dozens' of vulnerable children to take their own lives.
The unnamed teenager issued threats to her victims saying that she'd murder them or their families if they did not complete tasks she set.
These acts involved cutting themselves with razor blades and other self-harming challenges.
Credit: East 2 West News
Russian state investigators say that the female 'death group administrator' used threats against family members to add pressure on themselves and drive them to suicide.
"This administrator was sending particular tasks - often life threatening - to each of the several dozen members of the group," said Colonel irina Volk of the Russian Interior Ministry.
The young girl set her victims 50 tasks, in as many days, which were aimed at 'creating psychologically traumatising situations', with the final stage demanding, once they are exhausted and confused, that the victim commits suicide.
The 'brainwashing' of the victims comes from making them watch horror movies, waking in the middle of the night, and self-harming.
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Credit: East 2 West News
She told her victims that she was a man, but cannot be named due to being underage.
Police raided her flat and investigated many books and drawings, many relating to suicide. One included a drawing of her by Philipp Fox (Budeikin), a man believed to be the ultimate mastermind behind such death groups.
Budeikin believed that teenagers were 'wicked' and did not 'deserve to live', according to Russian police.
Sergey Pestov, whose daughter Diana Kuznetsova, 16, fell to her death from the top of a nine-storey building, now campaigns for action against Blue Whale and similar games.
Philipp Budeikin. Credit: East 2 West News
Speaking after Budeikin was imprisoned by a Siberian court for three years and four months, he said: "It is soft from the human point of view, and we would like see a tougher sentence.
"But at least it is an example. It is good grounds to say that such people will not remain unpunished."
Overall, 20 Russian suicides are officially linked to the trend which has been branded 'evil', but politicians suggest the figures run into the hundreds.
Featured Image Credit: East 2 West NewsTopics: Russia