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  "path": "/2026/04/despite-shortage-of-police-samara.html",
  "publishedAt": "2026-04-03T11:45:00.000Z",
  "site": "https://windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com",
  "tags": [
    "idelreal.org/a/v-samarskom-gu-mvd-sozdali-otdel-po-rassledovaniyu-prestupleniy-v-otnoshenii-uchastnikov-rossiyskogo-vtorzheniya-v-ukrainu/33721335.html",
    "idelreal.org/a/v-samarskoy-oblasti-ne-hvataet-svyshe-treh-tysyach-politseyskih-huzhe-vsego-situatsiya-v-konvoe-i-patrulno-postovoy-sluzhbe/33722203.html"
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  "textContent": "Paul Goble\n\nStaunton, Mar. 31 -- Despite the fact that the Samara region is currently suffering from a severe shortage of police officers, the interior ministry there has set up a special department within the militia to investigate crimes against veterans of Putin’s war in Ukraine, a sign that such crimes may be on the rise and that Moscow wants to reassure veterans of protection.\n\nThere has been a great deal of attention to crimes committed by veterans of Putin’s war in Ukraine on their return home, but very little to what may be an ever increasing problem (idelreal.org/a/v-samarskom-gu-mvd-sozdali-otdel-po-rassledovaniyu-prestupleniy-v-otnoshenii-uchastnikov-rossiyskogo-vtorzheniya-v-ukrainu/33721335.html and idelreal.org/a/v-samarskoy-oblasti-ne-hvataet-svyshe-treh-tysyach-politseyskih-huzhe-vsego-situatsiya-v-konvoe-i-patrulno-postovoy-sluzhbe/33722203.html).\n\nGiven that officials in Samara say they are suffering from a shortage of more than 3,000 police officers, a figure that is more than a quarter of the total number the oblast is supposed to have, this decision to create a new and special body to investigate crimes _against rather than by_ veterans is striking.\n\nAt the very least, this move seems to be an effort to show veterans that they will be protected, even if other groups in the population will have to suffer, one more indication that in Putin’s Russia, some, these veterans, are decidedly more equal than the others, and a likely driver of hostility toward and even attacks against such veterans.\n\nMany of Russia’s federal subjects suffer from serious shortages of police, something that has forced them to cut back services and leave residents at greater risk of crime. This is the first known indication that a region has decided to protect veterans in this way, but it is likely to spread if indeed it has not already, albeit with less publicity given that it may backfire.",
  "title": "Despite Shortage of Police, Samara Oblast Creates Special Militia Department to Investigate Crimes against Veterans of Putin’s War in Ukraine",
  "updatedAt": "2026-04-03T11:45:19.045Z"
}