Russian Traffic Police Bribery Case in Yekaterinburg Highlights Corruption Risks

A court in Yekaterinburg convicted three traffic police officers of taking bribes after they used the funds to acquire a gas station, a development reported by 66.RU. The case details show that personnel from the second detachment of the traffic police regiment bought a breathalyzer device programmed to display a fixed, misleading level of ppm. With this tool, investigators accused drivers of drunk driving and pressed for on-the-spot settlements. Bribe amounts ranged from 15,000 to 50,000 rubles. One driver was even detained after contacting the FSB and handing over more than 25,000 rubles to traffic police under FSB oversight. The investigation revealed that the officers concealed crimes by deleting DVR footage from the official vehicle. Some of the videos used as evidence by investigators were later recovered. Following their detention in 2021, media coverage linked the officers to acquiring gas stations through bribes extracted from drivers. The court sentenced the three officers to 3.5 to 4 years of compulsory labor, with each ordered to transfer 15 percent of wages to the state. In Krasnodar, a separate incident involved drunken traffic officers who, during the early hours, collided and then attempted to hide the accident, reflecting ongoing concerns about conduct within law enforcement on Russian roads. Source: 66.RU.