Russia Is Storing Up a Crime Wave When Its War on Ukraine Ends
- Court data in Russia shows a spike in crimes by servicemen
- Convicts recruited to fight in war start to return to Russia
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Russia has sent so many men to join its war in Ukraine that crime levels in the country fell soon after the invasion began. Now their return is starting to unleash a wave of offending.
Crimes committed by servicemen that aren’t linked to the war increased by more than 20% last year, according to data from Russia’s Supreme Court. While the overall numbers are still small and many returning servicemembers don’t go onto commit offenses, there was a jump in cases of violent crimes as well as thefts and drug-related transgressions.