Returning veterans of the war against Ukraine pose an increasingly sinister threat to Russian society as violent crime in the country has skyrocketed, reaching a 15-year high. A return of “Afghan syndrome” and the inability to utilize specialized combat skills after military service have pushed many veterans to resort to rampant substance abuse and violence against family members, friends, and fellow citizens. The Kremlin’s dual failure of inadequately supporting veterans’ reintegration while applying leniency when prosecuting them for serious crimes has only exacerbated the situation.
The gun could soon be turned on the Kremlin, given the wisdom, or lack thereof, of militarizing convicts with promises of amnesty, arming them and sending them to the frontlines, and then expecting them to become model citizens upon their return without the proper support. Repeat offenses by former inmates conscripted into the Russian military to fight Ukraine now pose one of the biggest risks to public safety in the Russian Federation (see EDM, January 19, 2024, February 25, May 29).
According to state statistics, from January to June 2025, more than 333,000 “serious and particularly serious” crimes against articles of the country’s Criminal Code were recorded, as tens of thousands of military personnel, many of them ex-convicts, returned from the front. This figure represents a 15-year high for serious crime in Russia. From January to June 2024, the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs registered just under 302,000 “serious and particularly serious” crimes, an increase of more than ten percent over 2023 levels (Radio Lenta, July 10).
Returning veterans of the war against Ukraine pose an increasingly sinister threat to Russian society, especially as loose guns and munitions proliferate across the country. The Kremlin has sought to co-opt these veterans as a “new Russian elite,” but uneven success in doing so could mean Moscow loses complete control of the situation in the coming months (see EDM, March 13, 2024, May 22, July 10). ussian officials have tried to downplay the rise in violent crime among veterans of the war. One year after Moscow launched its so-called “special military operation” (SVO), Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stated that criminal allegations against SVO veterans were “lousy behavior” and not a matter of concern for Moscow.
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