Russian Military Personnel Committing Dramatically More Rapes, Murders and Other Crimes Now than In Earlier Years, Court Statistics Show

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Oct. 26 – Reflecting both the increase in the number of uniformed personnel because of Putin’s war in Ukraine and the psychological problems participation in that war are generating, Russian military personnel are committing ever more rapes, murders and other crimes now than at any time in the last five years, court documents show.

            Rape and other sex crimes have been increasing across the board in Russia in recent years, but the number of military personnel charged in this connection has “at a minimum” almost doubled (verstka.media/analiz-sudebnoy-statistiki-pokazyvaet-rost-ubiystv-iznasilovaniy-i-del-o-gosizmene).

            The increase in the number of Russian soldiers charged with murder has gone up even more dramatically, from 15 and 21 during the first nine months of 2022 and 2021, to 147 during the same period this year. Soldiers committing murder are more likely to be intoxicated and to use knives as well as guns, at least some from their military service.

            This is just one of the ways that Putin’s war in Ukraine is coming home to Russia, a way that may have more dramatic consequences at least in part because the state media does cover such crimes even as it suppresses information about war losses and the funerals of those who have died in the campaign.