Thieves increasingly target money, jewelry in Moscow, unattended items in regions - Interior Ministry
MOSCOW. Dec 7 (Interfax) - The Russian Interior Ministry has unveiled what thieves go after in various parts of the country.
"The constituent regions of our Federation somewhat differ by living standards. In the Moscow region, for example, the most targeted item is money, both cash and non-cash. Also: jewelry, golden items and antiques," Vladislav Paramonov, the Interior Ministry's chief criminal investigator, said in an interview with the Militseiskaya Volna radio station on Friday.
In remote regions, thieves steal whatever is left unguarded in places with "no security or a demand for other items," Paramonov said.
"Anything can be stolen: a spade, a rake at a dacha, the contents of a parcel, metal structures, wires, groceries, clothes from stores, a car," he said.
For apartment and home burglaries, the official figure so far this year is 89,000, with about 53,000 of them already solved, the official said
"By the way, in terms of rates per 100,000 population, the leader in apartment burglaries is the Amur region, with 107 thefts per 100,000 population, followed by the Tyva Republic, with 100 thefts per 100,000 population," Paramonov said.
Regions with the highest rates of reported thefts are Tver (38,000), Novgorod (59,000), Kirov (45,000), Kurgan (42,000), Kemerovo (34,000) and Transbaikal Territory (64,000), he said.
"The combined indicator for Russia nationwide is just 23 thefts per 100,000 population," Paramonov said.
In Moscow this indicator is "one of the lowest" at just seven thefts per 100,000 population, the official said.