Call the police: Putin announced an increase in salaries for Interior Ministry employees

For the first time in a long time, Russia has faced an increase in crimes committed by teenagers — last year their number increased by almost a third. The proportion of serious and especially serious cases among them exceeded 40%. This became known on March 4 at an expanded meeting of the Board of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Vladimir Putin called the fight against such offenses a national task. Other topics of discussion included the shortage of personnel in law enforcement agencies. According to Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev, the number of vacancies has reached 212 thousand. Against this background, the president announced an increase in salaries for employees of the department. How many police officers are missing in Russia and how the agency copes with illegal migration is described in the Izvestia article.

The growth of juvenile delinquency in Russia

Vladimir Putin spoke at a board meeting of the Ministry of Internal Affairs on March 4. Hundreds of representatives of the department directly from the head of state heard an assessment of their work. In general, the head of state is pleased with the work of the department: in almost all regions it was possible to reduce the number of crimes, including recidivism. However, the work on solving crimes needs to be improved, Vladimir Putin stressed.

The president devoted several minutes of his rather succinct speech to the problem of juvenile delinquency: for the first time in a long time, Russia was faced with its growth. Vladimir Putin called the fight against juvenile delinquency literally a national task that all authorities should work on. Today, the share of serious and especially serious juvenile crimes has exceeded 40%. The situation requires a prompt response, he said.

— Cases of aggressive behavior of teenagers in schools, colleges, as well as in public places are of particular concern <...> It is necessary to significantly strengthen the focus on the prevention and prevention of such crimes. And of course, it is important to involve teenagers, including those with family problems, in the volunteer movement, in sports, in the work of youth public associations — to do everything to help children avoid tragic mistakes, find themselves in life, overcome difficulties, realize their talents and abilities that everyone has. — the president emphasized.

Recently, such incidents have become more frequent in educational institutions. On February 19, in the Perm Region, a seventh—grader stabbed a peer with a knife - the child underwent surgery and is recovering. On February 13, a student came to school with an axe in the Khanty-Mansiysk district, and a teacher noticed him in time. On February 11, a student opened fire at a college in Anapa, killing one person. On February 3, at the Ufa gymnasium, a teenager came to class with an air rifle and detonated a firecracker.

The criticality of the situation was also confirmed by Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev. Last year alone, the number of such crimes increased by almost a third. Moreover, in just a couple of months of 2026, the Russian Interior Ministry prevented 21 attacks on schoolchildren and pupils in 15 regions of Russia.

— The age of the offenders is amazing: the youngest is 10 years old! — said the minister.

Practice shows that young people are often purposefully drawn into a criminal environment: 45% of teenagers committed a crime in a group, the president added. He called for the prompt identification of criminals who recruit children, these instigators will be severely punished up to life imprisonment, the president promised. Juvenile delinquency is on the rise, as it is much easier to encourage immature minds to take action and use them for their own purposes against the background of any military action, Alexander Ternovtsov, a member of the Russian Federation's Investigative Committee, told Izvestia.

— The lion's share of these sad statistics really belongs to teenagers, who have become a tool in the hands of criminals. Recruiters in social networks use manipulative fraudulent schemes, acting according to schemes worked out over the years by Western intelligence services. <..> Therefore, today it is of particular importance to work with children — with everyone, regardless of academic performance and external well—being," he said.

Today, differentiated work is required: the opportunity to study in sports clubs and patriotic associations, theater studios. NGOs, for whom it is worthwhile to simplify access to school resources, could help in this, as well as communication with their participants, who will set the right example.

— And of course, we just need legal education for our children. Unfortunately, many of the convicted teenagers sincerely believed that nothing would happen to them for what they had done, they would not be caught, someone did not know about the severity of the punishment. Adults who involve them in criminal activities play on this infantilism," he concluded.

New functions and personnel shortage of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia

The problem of shortage of personnel is becoming more and more acute in the department. Vladimir Kolokoltsev confirmed that the staff turnover in the Ministry of Internal Affairs is huge: 350 thousand people have left since 2020, and the staff has been updated by half. According to the results of last year, the total number of vacancies amounted to 212 thousand. First of all, these are the key services of the department: the criminal investigation department, district police officers, patrol and patrol service. The shortage of the latter is 40%.

— And this means that there are no outfits on the streets, — he emphasized.

The most critical situation is in the district level of the territorial bodies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. There are regional departments in which individual units have been completely dismantled, Vladimir Kolokoltsev noted. He stressed that 25% of district police officers are missing in Russia, but control over supervised persons has been maintained. Vladimir Putin is also aware of the problem, he called for solving it systematically and immediately indicated that some decisions have already been taken.

— We are also talking about improving the level of financial and social security of employees — everyone understands this perfectly well. I can say that a number of decisions have been taken in this regard, and they will be guaranteed to be implemented starting this year. Of course, I don't want to go into this here — everyone sitting in the hall understands what I'm talking about: first of all, the level of wages," the head of state noted.

Separately, the head of state dwelled on the fight against illegal migration, which, according to his estimates, should reach a new level thanks to the creation of a migration service in the Interior Ministry system. The Agency has already started setting up migration control points. According to the figures from the Interior Minister, the work is already going quite well.

In 2025, 85% more foreigners who evaded departure were identified, and the number of deportees increased by 15%. More than 50 thousand foreigners were not allowed to cross the Russian border after the start of digital control — the submission of electronic notifications before traveling to Russia. The number of identified cases of illegal migration in Russia has also increased by almost a third. At the same time, more than 185 thousand illegal migrants legalized their stay in the Russian Federation.

Vladimir Putin instructed the agency to strictly suppress any manifestations of Russophobia, xenophobia, and religious hatred, as the number of extremist crimes has increased over the past year. It is necessary to promptly identify those who seek to shake up the situation in Russia and in society, the president drew attention.

This is especially important against the background of the upcoming State Duma elections — federal deputies will be elected for the first time in the DPR, LPR, Zaporizhia and Kherson regions. Vladimir Putin was able to create all conditions for the free and safe expression of the will of citizens.