Crime among Russian military officers highest in decade

Crime among Russian military officers highest in decade

Crimes committed by officers in Russia's Armed Forces have reached unprecedented levels over the past decade and urgent measures are required to curb the negative trend, the chief military prosecutor said on Thursday.

Russian officers committed a total of 4,159 crimes in 2008, including 1,754 corruption-related offenses, a 38% increase compared to 2007.

"The crime rate among officers in the Russian Armed Forces has gone overboard, and hit the highest level in the past decade," Sergei Fridinsky told a joint meeting of senior Defense Ministry officials and military prosecutors.



According to prosecutors, officers have already committed over 2,000 crimes in 2009 or one in four of the total offenses, up 7% year-on-year.

More than 540 service personnel were assaulted by officers, with 16 dying from the injuries received, in the first six months of this year.

"One-third of the crimes are related to corruption, and the crime rate is equally high among junior and senior officers," Fridinsky said.

The number of Russian generals and admirals, prosecuted for various crimes, has increased by almost seven times over the past five years, he said.

In the latest large-scale fraud case, a criminal investigation was launched against a group of Russian senior military officials and a number of businessmen suspected of attempting to smuggle 30 anti-submarine missiles and 200 airplane bombs worth a total of $18 million to Tajikistan for sale to China.

Corruption in the Russian military resulted in losses of at least 2.2 billion rubles ($78.6 mln) to the state budget in 2008.

"It is absolutely clear that any efforts in line with the current military reform will remain just good intentions if we do not stop this growing negative trend as soon as possible," Fridinsky concluded.

As part of the ongoing military reform, Russia aims to downsize the Armed Forces from the current 1.2 million to 1 million personnel, including a reduction in the number of generals and admirals from 1,100 to 200 by 2012.