Murders in Russia

Crime in Russia

Main article: Crime in Russia

2024:10% reduction in homicides to 6,732 cases

In 2024, 6,732 murders and attempted murders were recorded in Russia - this is almost 10% less than the previous year. The number of reported death threats or grievous bodily harm was 33,874, down 12.3% year-on-year. Such data are given in the report of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, which TAdviser got acquainted with in early March 2025.

In the total mass of these acts, 5513 cases were identified by employees of the internal affairs bodies - this is 5.7% less than a year earlier. 19 murders for hire were recorded, which is 46.2% more than in 2023:12 of them were identified by employees of the internal affairs bodies. Of the crimes, cases and materials about which were in production in 2024, 5135 murders and attempted murders were disclosed, which is 12.1% less compared to 2023. 381 murders and attempted murders remained unsolved (plus 62.8% year on year).

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Фото: Freepik

The report said there were 818 murders and attempted murders in public in 2024, down 4.8% on the previous year. 682 such acts were previously investigated - minus 7.6% on an annualized basis. transport There were 21 murders and attempted murders, down 12.5% from 2023. Of these crimes, cases and materials about which were in production in 2024, 8 cases were disclosed. 18 persons who committed such acts in transport have been identified.

In 2024, 718 murders and attempted murders, which were committed in previous years, were also disclosed: according to this indicator, negative dynamics was recorded - minus 17.9% year-on-year. At the same time, 35 acts committed by an organized group or a criminal community were disclosed: this is 16.7% less than a year earlier.^[1]

2022

In Russia, for the first time in 20 years, the number of murders and attempted murders has increased

In Russia, for the first time in 20 years in 2022, the number of murders and attempted murders increased. This will be agreed in the report of the law firm "Travmpunct" (it includes lawyers specializing in the protection of victims of violent crimes), which was published at the end of March 2023.

As Kommersant writes with reference to this document, until 2022, the statistics of the General Prosecutor's Office showed a "steady reduction" in murders and assassination attempts: from 32,265 cases in 2002 to 7332 in 2021. But in 2022, the number of such cases increased by 4% - 7628 cases.

In Russia, in 2022, for the first time in 20 years, the number of murders and attempted murders increased

The authors explain the increase in the number of murders, attempted murders and manifestations of domestic violence by several factors directly or indirectly related to military conflict. So, they note an increase in alcohol consumption and refer to foreign studies of this phenomenon using the examples of American soldiers who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan. In relation to Russia, the authors refer to the data of Rosalkogolregulirovanie: retail sales of alcohol with a strength of more than 9% increased in Russia in 2022 by 6.8%, vodka - by 5.9%, and all alcoholic beverages excluding beer, mead and catering chains - by 3.5% compared to the previous year. Lawyers note that in 70-80% of cases of murder in Russia are committed while intoxicated.

At the same time, the number of murders committed by repeat offenders decreased by 16.7%, intentional inflictions of grievous bodily harm by 19.7%. The number of drunken crime decreased by 10.1%, as well as murders committed while intoxicated, by 2.2%, intentional infliction of grievous bodily harm by 7.2%.

Among the reasons for the increase in violence is the post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) syndrome that occurs in combatants and injured civilians, the report said. Among the manifestations of PTSD associated with the risk of violence against other people are impulsiveness, anger, alcohol consumption.^[2]

Residents of Izhevsk, Saratov, Taganrog and Moscow region went on trial for receiving murder orders through an online forum

At the end of September 2022, it became known that residents of Izhevsk, Saratov, Taganrog and the Moscow region went on trial for receiving murder orders through an online forum. The materials of the relevant criminal case (50 volumes) were sent to the Vladimir Regional Court by the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation. Read more here.

2021: Number of intentional murders

Число умышленных убийств в To Europe US by data available for 2021

2020

SC: Killers in the Russian Federation began to pay cryptocurrency

In mid-January 2021, the Investigative Committee of Russia (TFR) reported that the services of killers began to be paid for with cryptocurrency. Murder customers resort to this method of payment in order to minimize the risks of being caught in the event of a murder being solved.

We are investigating cases against professional attackers who are IT specialists who feel confident in the cyber environment, carefully planning crimes and using the entire possible arsenal of means in order to maintain their anonymity and go unpunished - from VPN-programs to cryptocurrency. For example, in cases of contract killings, the use of one of the cryptocurrencies as a means of payment was established, - said TASS Information Agency of Russia cybercrimes Konstantin Komarda, head of the department for investigation and crimes in the field of high technologies of the RF IC.

TFR: Killers in Russia began to pay cryptocurrency

He also reported on the difficulties of establishing the customer who sent the payment to the killer. In particular, when converting cryptocurrency into ordinary currency, transactions are carried out through about 15-20 electronic wallets issued for unauthorized persons. At the same time, they carefully blur among tens of thousands of other operations before reaching the final recipient. According to the representative of the TFR, to analyze such data, special software and the help of IT specialists are needed.

Earlier, the director of the FSBAlexander Bortnikov said that terrorists began to use cryptocurrency focused on increased privacy more often to finance their activities. Criminals often set up shell firms and legally bid on stock exchanges or invest in real estate, he said. Europol confirms that bitcoin is still the most popular cryptocurrency for cybercriminals.^[3]

The number of murders in Russia in 5 years decreased by 3.2%, to 7.7 thousand cases - Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation

According to the Prosecutor General's Office of Russia, in 2020, 7.7 thousand murders and attempted murders were registered in the country, which is 3.2% less than in 2019. Since 2015, the figure has decreased by a third - then 11.3 thousand such crimes were committed.

According to statistics cited by the Prosecutor General's Office, most of the murders and assassination attempts in 2020 fell on the Moscow region - 311 such crimes were registered there, which is 15.5% less than in 2019. In the Sverdlovsk region, 286 acts of this kind occurred (an increase of 0.4%), in Tatarstan - 252 (+ 21.2).

Compared to 2019, in 2020, the number of rapes and attempts on them significantly increased - by 11.3%, to 3.5 thousand throughout the country.

The number of murders in Russia in 5 years decreased by 3.2%

According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the number of registered crimes in Russia at the end of 2020 increased by 1% compared to 2019, and for serious and especially serious acts - immediately by 14%. At the same time, in 2020, the number of registered crimes against the person decreased - 5.1% less than in 2019.

At the end of 2020, there is a decrease in the number of robberies - by 21.7%, robberies - by 16.2%, the total number of thefts - by 3%, including apartment thefts - by 22.6% and vehicle thefts - by 27.1%.

The number of criminal offenses committed by persons in a state of alcoholic intoxication decreased by 2.5%, and by 14.7% - in a state of drug intoxication. Criminal activity in the migration sector has decreased. The number of crimes committed in Russia by foreign citizens and stateless persons decreased by 1.5%, and by 4.9% against them.

Crimes on the streets, squares, parks and squares are registered less by 9.9%, including robberies - by 24.8%, thefts - by 18.5%, robberies - by 23.3%.

In 2020, a decrease of 9.5% in the number of crimes in the family and household sphere was registered, including 15.8% - the facts of intentional infliction of grievous bodily harm, 13.5% - moderate harm, 10% - minor harm to health.^[4]

2019: In Russia, men receive an average of 14 months more for murder than women

The sentence for murder for men in Russia is on average 14 months more than for women. Such conclusions were announced at the end of February 2024 by scientists from the Higher School of Economics, who analyzed 20 thousand court cases. The study is published in the journal Homicide Studies.

With the complete coincidence of all other factors, the term of imprisonment for men was 14 months longer than for women. Gender affects the sentence more than aggravating circumstances - they increase the term by four months - or confession of guilt, which reduces the punishment by six months, the press service of the university reports.

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Фото: Unsplash

The analysis was carried out by scientists from the Higher School of Economics Anton Kazun (associate professor of the Faculty of Economic Sciences) and Svetlana Zhuchkova. Using the method of intellectual analysis of texts, they studied 20 thousand court cases under Part 1 of Article 105 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (murder) from 2013 to 2019. According to the analysis, it turned out that women most often receive less severe punishment than men. At the same time, the gender difference in sentences is not due to the "lenient" attitude towards women defendants on the part of male judges - male judges generally issued stricter sentences than female judges, regardless of the sex of the defendant.

According to the authors of the study, a possible reason for this phenomenon may be that judges interpret various mitigating and aggravating circumstances in different ways. So, with the murder of a partner, the term of imprisonment of women was less by an average of three months, and with children - by four.

Researchers expect to conduct a deeper study of case materials to more accurately establish the reasons for the existence of this gender gap.

There are many more complex parameters (like, say, the fact of kinship or state in marriage), which require more complex methods to extract... These parameters in the texts of court sentences can be described in many different ways, which makes analysis difficult, but does not make it impossible, "said study author Anton[5]

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