Russian Crimewave

From the MT:
"Russia Sees 2015 Crime Rate Spike"

 

The crime rate in Russia has reversed a longstanding downward trend, jumping sharply in the first eight months of this year by 6.7 percent, according to a top Russian prosecutor. Almost 1.5 million crimes had been committed in Russia this year by Sept. 1, Deputy Prosecutor General Vladimir Malinovsky said during a talk at the Civic Chamber on Tuesday, the RIA Novosti news agency reported. Malinovsky said the new figures could not fail to cause alarm, RIA reported. The increase means that Russia looks set to see an annual rise in the crime rate for the first time in several years, reversing a steady downward trend. Malinovsky highlighted a particular jump in the number of crimes committed by people under the influence of alcohol or illegal drugs, RIA reported. There were 2.1 million crimes reported in Russia in 2014, 2.2 million in 2013 and 2.3 million in 2012, according to statistics from the Prosecutor General's Office. In July, President Vladimir Putin signed a decree reducing the number of police in the country by 10 percent to a little over one million people. Russia is in the throes of an economic crisis caused by an oil price collapse and international isolation over Ukraine, which has driven a rise in poverty, falling real incomes and reduced government spending.

^ This isn't that surprising. It seems the sanctions imposed on Russia and the self-imposed bans along with the immense spending on frivolous projects like the Sochi Olympics, the annexation of Crimea, the war in eastern Ukraine, the Russian military build-up in South Ossetia, Abkhazia and now Syria have all helped to lead to the ordinary Russian suffering. The number of Russians living below the poverty-line has grown in the last year and with that has the crime rate as desperate people do desperate things. It is sad to see ordinary Russians suffering for what their government is doing, but that is usually the case anywhere in the world in these kind of circumstances. It may be time for Moscow to start looking internally rather than internationally and solve their own issues with crime, their economy, etc. ^

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/russia-sees-2015-crime-rate-spike/531102.html