Minister of Internal Affairs Vladimir Kolokoltsev, during a meeting at which he introduced the new heads of the departments of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Magadan Region and the annexed Sevastopol, announced a critical shortage of police personnel. His words are reported by MVD Media.
First, Kolokoltsev described the crime situation in Sevastopol and the Magadan Region as stable, but noted that «in conditions of understaffing, a colossal burden falls on employees.»
“The shortage of personnel is very large. I would say that it is already critical. Over the past month, five thousand employees have left the internal affairs bodies. A difficult situation. And in the Magadan region — difficult. And there are not enough investigators. But in any case, we must do everything to minimize these risks. First of all, in order to satisfy the demand of the population for the protection of the rights and freedoms provided for by law,” the minister said.
Kolokoltsev did not explain what the mass dismissal of employees was connected with. According to Putin's decree, signed in 2022, the maximum staffing of employees of the internal affairs bodies from January 1, 2023 was to increase to 922 thousand people. In the spring of 2014, a staffing limit of 894,000 employees was set.