Russia offers amnesty for illegal arms to support military needs
In Russia, holders of illegal firearms will be granted amnesty if they hand them over for military use, as reported by the Moscow Times on Monday, citing a statement from the Federal Service of the National Guard of Russia. This applies to individuals whose weapons have not been used in a crime.
28 October 2024 20:56
Currently, possession of firearms without a valid licence in Russia is punishable by a fine of up to 5,000 rubles (approximately 90 Canadian dollars).
In August, President Vladimir Putin signed a law allowing the National Guard to transfer weapons confiscated or voluntarily surrendered by civilians to the troops fighting in Ukraine.
The new regulations are expected to bring significant savings, as the law previously required the destruction of confiscated weapons. At the beginning of 2024, there were over 70,000 weapons designated for destruction in the warehouses of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the National Guard.
Increase in illegal arms trade
The Ministry of Internal Affairs reported a sharp increase in crimes related to the illegal trade of weapons brought into Russia from war zones. In the first two months of the current year, the number of such crimes rose by 16 percent compared to the previous year. The weapons mainly ended up in the Caucasus. According to the newspaper "Izvestia," ordinary citizens were primarily the ones buying the weapons.
People are purchasing weapons for future use, "just in case." They attribute it to difficult times and concerns, the newspaper reported.
On Monday, the FSB announced on its website that in two months, 124 people involved in the illegal arms trade had been detained. Confiscated were 333 firearms, including rifles and automatic weapons, over 290 kilograms of explosives, electric detonators, and over 63,000 rounds of ammunition. Additionally, 59 workshops for the production of ammunition and weapon modification were dismantled.
