In 2025, Chechnya once again became the region with the lowest level of recorded crime in Russia per 10,000 residents.
The statistics were released by Russia’s Interior Ministry, cited by the state agency RIA Rating, which also used data from Rosstat (Federal State Statistics Service).
According to these figures, Chechnya officially recorded 16 crimes per 10,000 residents in 2025 — more than seven times lower than the national average, which stood at 121 crimes per 10,000 people. The Interior Ministry also claimed that Chechnya has the lowest number of serious and especially serious crimes. According to the ministry, there are around five such cases per 10,000 residents in the republic, which is more than eight times lower than the national average.
Second place in the ranking of the safest regions was taken by Ingushetia, with 37 registered crimes per 10,000 people. At the same time, the republic was among five Russian regions where the total number of crimes increased over the year, according to the Interior Ministry. Third place went to Daghestan, where 42 crimes per 10,000 residents were registered.
Official crime statistics do not include reports of serious human rights violations that Russian and international human rights organisations have been documenting for many years. These include abductions, extrajudicial killings, torture in unofficial detention facilities, persecution of queer people, and the killing of women by relatives under the pretext of ‘honour’. Chechen authorities consistently deny that such practices exist in the republic.
It is impossible to determine what proportion of crimes in the republic are not officially registered. Human rights defenders from Memorial, Human Rights Watch, NC SOS Crisis Group, Marem, Caucasus Without a Mother, representatives of the opposition movement NIYSO, as well as OC Media’s own sources, regularly report cases of Chechen residents being abducted by security forces, tortured in secret prisons, and receiving threats, in addition to persecution and killings. As a rule, these reports are not reflected in the official reporting of law enforcement agencies. Complaints against law enforcement officers in Chechnya are often not accepted or registered, and those filing complaints themselves may face pressure.
The publication of statistics showing a low crime rate in Chechnya came just days after a traffic accident in Grozny involving Adam Kadyrov, the son of Chechen Head Ramzan Kadyrov. According to preliminary information, at least one person from a car travelling on a green traffic light was killed in the crash. Chechen authorities have not disclosed details about the accident, while local news agencies have sought to conceal the circumstances of what happened.
In September 2025, Ramzan Kadyrov stated that terrorism had been ‘completely defeated’ in the republic. At the same time, at least two armed attacks had taken place in Chechnya several months earlier. One targeted law enforcement officers in Gudermes, and another targeted Russian National Guard troops in a suburb of Grozny.
Elizaveta Chukharova
