Crime in Russia - Homicide

Homicide

At the beginning of the 20th century, Russia had a higher homicide rate – nearly ten per 100,000 people per year. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the rate remained stable and it was lower than in the United States. There was a rise in the homicide rate in the mid-1960s and 1970s which peaked in 1980, and then slowly declined in until 1985, and then it fell rapidly in 1986–1987.

Until the late 1980s, homicide rates in Russia were nearly similar to that in the United States. The increase in homicide rate in Russia began slightly earlier than 1990, and rose throughout the 1990s. Homicides were more common in Russia than in the Baltic states in 1991 and nearly doubled in frequency by 1994–1995. In 2003, homicide rate in Russia was among the highest in the world. Below is a comparison of homicide rate in Russia from 1990 to 2009:

According to an official of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the homicide rate in Russia in January–November 2006 was 10% less than in the same period of 2005, but 15% of the cases were unsolved. Andrei Kucheryavy, the head of a criminal police department, said in a news conference: "The number of killings has been gradually declining in the past four years, while the number of solved murders is increasing." Approximately 23,500 cases of homicide were registered in the first 10 months of 2006, of which 3,500 were unsolved, 9% less than the previous year.

The age pattern of homicide victimization rates in Russia is different compared to that of the United States. In 2001, 32% of the homicide victims in Russia were under the age of thirty-five, and 30% of the victims were fifty years or older. There is a wide range of variation in homicide rates throughout the country; the homicide rate is relatively high in Siberia and Russian Far East compared to European Russia.