Police vacancies in Russia surge over past year – UK intelligence

The UK Ministry of Defense shared this intelligence update on social media platform X (formerly Twitter), Ukrinform reports.

"The Russian state is likely confronting an increasingly significant shortage of police. In March 2025, Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev reportedly stated there to be 172,000 vacancies in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, an increase of 33,000 in the last year. Some Russian civilians have been reported as forming armed self-defense units as a result," the update said.

Decreased police sign-up and retention rates have likely been caused by a combination of: the relatively low salaries on offer; higher salaries and notable sign-up bonuses in the military and related industries; and concerns that joining the police may result in being sent to Ukraine, where Russia has likely sustained more than 900,000 casualties.

"The Russian senior leadership highly likely considers the issue to be a matter of concern, with rising violent crime rates expected to increase further with the return of Russian military personnel, widely accused of atrocities, from the war against Ukraine," the ministry added.

At the same time, the Russian leadership will highly likely continue prioritizing funding and resources for the war against Ukraine over the police in the short-medium term.