Starting December 1, biometric control will be introduced for all foreigners at airports.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs, together with the FSB and Rosfinmonitoring, conducted the operation 'Illegal-2025' in two stages. As a result, about 4,800 criminal cases were initiated related to the organization of illegal migration, reported the official representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, Irina Volk.
The purpose of the operation was named as combating illegal migration, as well as curbing the criminal activities of international groups and criminal communities. More than 128,000 violations of migration legislation were identified, including over 100,000 violations of entry and exit rules, and more than 28,000 violations of labor activity regulations.
More than 19,000 decisions on administrative expulsion and deportation of migrants have been made. A total of 1,500 criminal cases have been initiated for crimes, including those related to the illegal trafficking of narcotic and psychotropic substances, illegal arms trafficking, crossing state borders, terrorism, and extremism. 673 individuals were found who were on federal wanted lists, 329 on interstate wanted lists, and 37 on international wanted lists.
In November, the first 12 migration control points opened at airports in Russia. As an experiment, biometric control for all foreigners entering and exiting Russia is planned to be introduced in Moscow airports starting December 1.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs proposes to reorganize the import of labor and make it a registry-based model, with organized recruitment of such workers as the main mechanism for filling job vacancies. The powers to create this mechanism will be under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, while the Ministry of Labor will assess the necessary volume of labor force.
Meanwhile, the Ninth Cassation Court of General Jurisdiction granted the request of the Primorye Prosecutor's Office and overturned the sentence of three citizens of Uzbekistan, who had previously received no more than five and a half years in prison for gang rape.
"The case has been sent for a new trial in the court of first instance. The prosecutor's persistent challenge of the court decisions was prompted by the excessively lenient punishment imposed on the guilty parties," the supervisory agency stated. The prosecutor's office intends to "achieve a fair verdict in this high-profile criminal case."
According to the investigation, on June 15 of last year, a group of men attacked a 22-year-old girl in the area of Shamora Beach (officially named Lazurnaya Bay), a popular recreational spot in the suburbs of Vladivostok. Threatening the girl with a knife, they committed violent sexual acts.
In the regional Ministry of Internal Affairs, it was reported that "four citizens of one of the Central Asian republics" were detained at Vladivostok airport while attempting to "flee beyond the borders of the Russian Federation." The Investigative Committee clarified that these are citizens of Uzbekistan. Later, there was a report of the detention of a fifth suspect.
However, ultimately, the charge of gang rape was brought against three individuals involved in the case. Another arrested person committed suicide in the pre-trial detention center.
