The number of crimes involving firearms and explosive devices in Ukraine during the war is jumped 42 times. These are data of the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), quoted by the BBC and News.bg.
Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Leonid Timchenko stated in an interview with "Interfax-Ukraine" that in 2021 273 crimes involving the use of firearms and explosive devices were registered in the country. In the first year of the large-scale war (2022), their number increased 4.6 times – to 1267. In 2023 this figure has grown to an impressive 11,186.
Only in the current year, which has not yet ended, almost 11.5 thousand such crimes have already been registered.
In the interview cited by the agency, the deputy minister of the interior did not comment on these data and did not classify them by category. It is not specified, for example, how many of these crimes were committed in the frontline areas and how many – in the more remote areas. There is also a lack of data on how many of them were committed by the military, how many were with the use of army weapons, and other such details.
According to the Ukrainian prosecutor's office, law enforcement agencies are currently investigating nearly 15,000 crimes involving the use of firearms.