At the end of April, the Judicial Chamber of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation closed access to all statistics on criminal records in Russia for more than 20 years. These data showed how sentences are handed down in Russia under repressive articles, what military personnel are tried for, and even made it possible to estimate the number of defendants and convicts who go to war with Ukraine. Journalist and editor of the data section of the “Important Stories” publication Katya Bonch-Osmolovskaya explains why it is difficult to replace this data and whether there is a chance of its return.
Until April 20, the Judicial Chamber of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation was supposed to publish data on criminal records in Russia for the full year 2025. But this did not happen, and the next day all statistics since 2005 completely disappeared from the department’s website.
In the judiciary department certainAccess to statistics is closed, and this was explained by changing the controls for publishing data. “Now everything is agreed upon at the management level.” They said In the department. They could not explain what exactly had changed. They also did not answer when and in what form to expect new reports and whether old reports would be restored.
The judge has delayed the release of the data before. In the fall of 2024, the information system of Russian courts, the automated state system “Justice”, under the authority of the Ministry, was attacked by hackers. The websites of almost all Russian courts and Suddep himself did not work for more than a month. But the department was not at a loss and published new data about VKontakte.
Moreover, data deletion is not the first case of censorship of judicial statistics. In 2023, Al-Sadeeb reports disappear Information about provisions relating to offenses against military service – for example, desertion, unauthorized departure from the unit or evasion of service (all Chapter 33 of the Criminal Code). The department then clarified this with orders Ministry of Defense and Federal Security Service About confidentiality.
Why is jurisdictional data so important?
Statistics from the Judicial Department made it possible to see the official picture of the state of criminal records across the country. The state has a monopoly on this data: more than two thousand ships operate in Russia, and complete information about their operation can only be collected by a government agency that has insider access to the data.
The Judicial Department publishes new statistics every six months. Through it it is possible to know the number of people convicted under specific articles of the Criminal Code, their age, gender and profession, the penalties assigned to them, information about the consideration of requests for searches and wiretapping, and other information about the work of courts in Russia.
Journalists and researchers regularly use this data to track changes in judicial practice. For example, after the start of the Great War between Russia and Ukraine, statistics of the Judicial Chamber showed a huge increase in the number of people convicted of treason, espionage and secret cooperation with foreigners (Articles 275, 275.1, 276 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). Every six months the courts set a new record. The latest data available is for the first six months of 2025, then the sentences for these articles receive 151 people. This is just for a few lessthan in the whole of 2024. The same picture applies to articles.
Suddep’s data helped see the system He wins Repression against gays and “foreign agents”, as well as tightening immigration policies. We have seen how the demographic composition of convicts has changed: after the start of the great war with Ukraine, minors have become steel They often receive sentences on serious charges of terrorism, sabotage and treason, and in 2025 the proportion of women among all convicts will increase. receipt Record 20%.
Using indirect indicators from the judicial administration, it was possible to assess the true scope of sending defendants to war in Ukraine. This was indicated by a sharp increase in the number of pending cases, not because the accused was listed on the wanted list or because of his illness, but rather for other, unspecified reasons. In the first six months of 2025 alone, the number of such cases has increased receipt 25 thousand, although before the war began it rarely exceeded a thousand.
The administration regularly published not only the usual data, but also new ones – and those directly related to the war with Ukraine. In the fall of 2025, Sudeep made his debut openhow many people managed not only to suspend the case, but also to avoid punishment in exchange for participation in hostilities. Then 350 convicts benefited from this right, 41 of whom received sentences for murder, battery and other crimes against life and health (Articles 105-125 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).
Sudeep’s reports also helped in identifying the “civilian” crimes for which the army is being prosecuted. The latest published data for six months of 2025 showed that the number of military personnel convicted of murder (Article 105 of the Criminal Code) doubled compared to the same period of 2024, and in sexual crimes (Articles 131-135 of the Criminal Code) – one and a half times.
In the Suddep database – approx 15 million Cards for the accused. Accordingly, the administration issued tens of thousands of reports, some of which became public on a regular basis. In theory, you can collect criminal record data yourself, as case files are still posted on court websites. But it is impossible to get statistics on the exact sections and folders placed by Sudeep. Courts are published in remote locations, not all of them contain the text of court decisions, and information about the accused may be hidden. Everything related to the age, profession and other social characteristics of the convict remains invisible.
Of course, like most government data, there are questions about the Judicial Department statistics. Human Rights Project Research “Part One” Showthat in 2024 alone, nearly twice as many people were sentenced for treason, espionage and secret cooperation with foreigners as the judge noted. This is due to the fact that official statistics He falls Only the rulings came into legal force, although these numbers were record. In addition to the Judicial Department Not taken into account Judgments issued in the occupied territories of Ukraine.
How to replace criminal record information
Judicial Department statistics include only those cases that reach court. But even this snapshot is one of the last ways to find out what is happening in the criminal sphere in Russia.
Previously, detailed data was published by the Public Prosecutor’s Office, which, by law, Lead A unified statistical register of data on the crime situation and collects information from all law enforcement agencies. This information helped See Level of domestic violence in Russia displaysAnd how the authorities manipulate statistics related to immigrant crimes, he observed Anomalies In Russian crime statistics due to the war in Ukraine and the annexation of territories. But in 2023, the Public Prosecution stopped publishing the reports, explaining the decision to “improve the work of the legal statistics portal.”
Ministry of Interior Supports This information exists only in general form, and is useless for deeper analysis.
Nothing prevents administrations from hiding statistics, quite the opposite. In 2023 the Duma Allowed The government stops publishing any government data. As a result, of public access disappear Hundreds of data sets. Now in Russia there is no longer detailed open data on demographics, causes of death, income and expenses of officials and prison inmates. production Petroleum products, import and export.
Mostly those that go under the knife are those that may contain sensitive information for the authorities about the social or economic situation in the country. Although often ordinary reference data is omitted – for example, lists of open vacancies or affiliated institutions.
There is still a chance that the judicial administration will continue to publish statistics (or return the data for 20 years in a censored form). In a conversation with Big Stories, management admitted that reports for 2025 could be published later, although it did not clarify when or in what form.
Completely sealing all criminal records seems extremely extreme and makes no sense. Many of these indicators have nothing to do with repression and war in Ukraine. Perhaps statistics will be returned, but some particularly sensitive information for the state will be hidden – for example, everything related to the activities of military courts.
It is also possible that we will now only learn about criminal records through state-controlled media, and only about those articles that are permitted to be disclosed. So, on May 3, 2026, after the statistics were closed, TASS, citing the Supreme Court, wrote that in 2025, 262 people received sentences for treason, espionage and secret cooperation with foreigners. This is another record high – almost one and a half times more than a year ago.
Katya Bonch-Osmolovskaya