To inflict punishment: Putin called for investigating the crimes of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Kursk region

In Russia, it is necessary to increase the security of infrastructure facilities and places of mass residence of people, taking into account the growing terrorist threats. Vladimir Putin stated this on March 19 at the board of the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation. The number of terrorist-related crimes increased by more than 1.5 times in 2024, Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov said. This is due to the shelling of the territories of the Russian Federation, UAV attacks on residential buildings and businesses. Vladimir Putin noted that all military personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine who were on the territory of the Russian Federation and committed crimes against the civilian population should be qualified as terrorists. What other tasks the president has set for the prosecutors can be found in the Izvestia article.

Putin positively assessed the work of the prosecutors

In 2024, prosecutors at all levels have done a lot of work, Vladimir Putin said, opening a meeting of the board of the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation on March 19.

— The statistics also show this. Thus, the number of applications and complaints to the prosecutor's office increased by 10%, and the number of citizens received by prosecutors at a personal reception increased. And this, of course, needs to be used — to use all this information," said Vladimir Putin.

The prosecutor's office received almost 7 million appeals from citizens, and employees of the supervisory authorities personally received more than 1.2 million citizens.

— The dynamics noted, as well as the feedback we receive from people, convince us of the trust and relevance of our work. We must act in a coordinated manner and be ready to respond in a consolidated manner with other government agencies to any potential challenges and threats," Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov said.

According to Vladimir Putin, the most important issue for the development of Russia and the strengthening of economic sovereignty is the protection of the rights of entrepreneurs. He also drew attention to the need to control the spending of funds on national projects and the state defense order. In 2024, according to the materials of the prosecutors, 863 criminal cases were initiated on the facts of embezzlement of a total of 4.5 billion rubles allocated for national projects, Igor Krasnov said.

"In general, [in 2024], prosecutors stopped over 91,000 violations in the implementation of national projects, which allowed hundreds of social facilities to be put into operation for millions of citizens," the Prosecutor General noted.

The prosecutor's office managed to recover 504 billion rubles worth of unreasonably acquired property from officials through the courts.

— Illegal migration is known to be a breeding ground for self-serving manifestations of officials. The result of the targeted inspection carried out on behalf of the head of state was a twofold increase in criminal cases of crimes in this area. A lot of facts of illegal issuance of patents, residence permits, fictitious registration, and even direct involvement of law enforcement officers in criminal schemes have been revealed," Krasnov added.

In 2024, the trend of recent years towards a general reduction in crime continued. However, the situation in the field of information and telecommunication technologies is different: their number has increased significantly again, their share has reached almost 40%, and less than a quarter has been disclosed. The damage from remote theft amounted to almost 200 billion rubles, of which only a small part was returned — 8.8 billion rubles, and 29.9 billion rubles were seized in accounts, Krasnov said.

The Prosecutor's office also plans to conduct an inspection of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations and its units in the regions due to the revealed miscalculations in protecting the population and territories, the Prosecutor General added. Vladimir Putin called on the Prosecutor General's Office to continue monitoring the legality of purchases of equipment for medical institutions, the uninterrupted supply of medicines and to respond immediately to violations in this area.

The fight against terrorism

The number of crimes under articles on extremism increased by a third in 2024. Half of them are committed on the Internet, where over 75,000 sites with destructive information have been blocked. According to Igor Krasnov, systematic work on countering terrorist and extremist manifestations should be continued in close cooperation with all interested departments, taking into account the strategy approved by the President of the Russian Federation at the end of 2024.

The number of terrorist-related crimes has also increased over the past year. Against this background, the president called for increasing the security of industrial facilities, transport infrastructure, and places of mass residence. Igor Krasnov noted that the increase, in particular, is associated with the shelling of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

— The number of terrorist-related crimes has increased by more than one and a half times in the past year. First of all, this is due to the incessant shelling of peaceful territories of our country and attacks by unmanned aircraft on residential buildings and industrial facilities," the Prosecutor General noted.

The President noted the need to identify, record and thoroughly investigate the crimes of the Ukrainian military. The President asked the prosecutor's offices, including military prosecutors, to fully deploy such work in the liberated territories: in Sudzha and in other settlements. According to him, all criminals and punishers who gave criminal orders and abused civilians should be identified and given fair punishment in the future.

— Our troops have recently conducted a number of rapid, rather daring, effective operations and are completing the defeat of a group of enemy troops in the Kursk region. I repeat in this regard: according to the laws of the Russian Federation, all servicemen of the Ukrainian army, and even more so foreign mercenaries who were on our territory and committed a number of crimes against the civilian population, must be qualified and are qualified by our law as terrorists," Vladimir Putin stressed.

According to Krasnov, work has continued on the territory of Donbass and Novorossiya to improve the regulatory framework and ensure property rights, as well as preserve systemically important and strategic enterprises.

The threats of extremism, terrorism, and sabotage against important facilities remain relevant.

The parliament is trying to make adjustments to ensure that legislation meets the threats that pose a real danger to the lives, health of citizens and the integrity of the Russian state, Mikhail Starshinov, first deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Security and Anti-Corruption, told Izvestia.

— The state is making efforts in this direction. Of course, I would like to see the number of these crimes, and not only extremist ones, reduced," he said.

Assistance to victims of the Kiev regime

The President drew the Prosecutor's office's attention to the control of assistance sent to citizens affected by the Kiev regime. We are talking about compensation for lost property, the issuance of housing certificates and other payments. Vladimir Putin asked the prosecutors to ensure that people receive their funds on time and in full, so that temporary and permanent housing is provided as quickly as possible. Special care should be taken to protect the rights of children, adolescents and the elderly.

— The rights of more than 60 thousand fighters and their family members to receive 3 billion rubles of social assistance have been restored. Participants in a special military operation and their relatives should be included in the payment lists in advance, rather than walking through the offices of officials with an outstretched hand," Igor Krasnov noted in turn.

Equally important is the return of the fighters to a peaceful life. The Prosecutor General instructed his colleagues from the regions to check the implementation of measures for employment, retraining, and job quotas for soldiers returning from their home zone.

— The heroism of the participants in the special military operation is a continuation of the exploits of our ancestors, who won a fierce battle against fascism 80 years ago. In this jubilee year, which we celebrate under the banner of defenders of the Fatherland, it is necessary to do everything in our power to support our front—line soldiers and veterans," said Krasnov.

He called for monitoring the completeness of the provision of all state guarantees and payments to the participants of the Great Patriotic War, their widows, home front workers and concentration camp prisoners, and the maintenance of war memorials.