Shortly before the Eurovision in Kiev, the German TV channel MDR published a devastating plot about the rampant crime in Ukraine and the helplessness of the new reformed police. In addition, German journalists paid attention to the fact that the authorities are making “scapegoats” from the settlers from the Donbass, trying to shift responsibility for certain crimes to them.
The murder of former Russian politician Denis Voronenkov shocked Ukraine. However, the real problem of the country is the constantly deteriorating crime situation, while the police can not boast of high crime detection, according to the media website.
Despite the fact that there have been more political murders in Ukraine since the Maidan revolution, it would be wrong to call them everyday phenomena for the country. The real everyday life is a constant increase in the crime rate, where the burglary and car thefts became a scourge. All this is exacerbated by the fact that in 74% of cases the crimes remain undisclosed.
The reason for crime is primarily due to the social situation in the country – from 2014 on, Ukraine suffers from a severe economic crisis. During this period, the hryvnia depreciated against the euro by almost two-thirds: if shortly before the first revolution, 11 hryvnias were given per 1 euro, now the exchange rate is 29 hryvnias per 1 euro. As a consequence of the devaluation in the country, there was a significant increase in prices and utility tariffs.
In order to somehow make ends meet, many people are in search of earnings, since salaries do not cover expenses, and many even lost their jobs. “Theft is the simplest way to earn money, so the growth in their number is not surprising,” the Kiev lawyer Yury Melnik told the German TV channel.
Also in Ukraine there is a steady increase in the number of cases of arms trade from the Donbass. For the soldiers, this type of income is one of the few opportunities to provide money to their families. According to the former deputy prosecutor of Kiev Maksim Mogilnitsky, the Ukrainian authorities make the immigrants “scapegoats, shifting their responsibility for such crimes,” reports MDR.
Otherwise, statistics show a different picture: the arms trade is not the work of settlers, but the all-Ukrainian trend. “In addition, most often illegal crimes are committed in Western Ukraine, where a small number of settlers live,” Mogilnitsky comments.
“Police reform is criticized mainly for the fact that police officers were replaced by new policemen who received only four months of training,” the website of the German television channel reported.