Reporter checks crime in Odintsovo

In mid-2024, the outlet Regions called Odintsovo the most criminal district of Moscow Oblast. As reporters were told by the Prokuratura Moskovskoy oblasti (Prosecutor’s Office of Moscow Oblast), the most crimes in the first half-year were committed there. Since then, city-by-city statistics have not been published, so an MSK1.RU correspondent headed west of the capital to check how frightening it really is.

«The center is nothing; the outskirts are wild»

The square by the station looks gingerbread under the sun: a fair, a hotel, everything neat. Two inspectors laughed at questions like «what’s it like living in such a criminal place?» And said fare-dodgers don’t beat them — at most they snap back. Taxi drivers also said everything is fine for them.

In principle I could have left, but I went on — to a weapons store. One last pepper spray canister remained in the display, which was curious. Did they stop stocking them as unnecessary? Or are they flying off the shelves? The clerk explained briefly: they ran out.

His colleague heard the question about crime but had nothing new to say.

«I wouldn’t say it’s the most criminal city. I haven’t heard scary stories for a year — maniacs attacking or anything like that,» said a man in a cap and camouflage.

And that seemed like it, but a knowledgeable person turned up who knew more about maniacs. He is 52, has lived in Odintsovo for 11 years, his name is Anton. The man started the conversation himself at the market after hearing my interest in crime.

«It’s nice enough on the bench here, but there are neighborhoods… You can get there, but getting back is a problem. Take Otradnoye station (Odintsovo) — they recently pulled a maniac from there. Seriously, I’m not joking, I’m 52, it’s too late for me to joke. Back under Borya (Boris Yeltsin) there was a drug den here. Do you think it all stopped?» he asked.

The interlocutor also took a swipe at the city authorities and the national situation, recalled the politician Marina Salye — whom not every journalist even knows. Speaking about safety in Odintsovo, Anton contradicted himself a bit: he did spook me, yet said it wasn’t all that bad. Most importantly, he named the neighborhood I would definitely go to.

«The city center is nothing, but the outskirts are raging. I didn’t mention a maniac for nothing — someone really was prowling around here, harassing a girl,» the interlocutor said. «I walk calmly because I know where and how to walk, whom to talk to and in what language. No one can mess with me.»

«The phones turned out stolen»

Not going far, I decided to check a secondhand shop. If they steal here, they must fence goods. On entering, I disturbed a couple in love, but the clerk still agreed to talk. He said that over three years, owners had twice recognized their smartphones on his shelves.

«I took in phones, and they turned out stolen — the owners showed up. I take everything with a passport, and if they’re someone else’s, the officers come and seize them. They understand I have nothing to do with it,» the guy said.

He grew up in Odintsovo and doesn’t consider it dangerous now. He says there used to be addicts, and some places were better avoided at night.

«My neighborhood Vtoroy Zavod (Second Plant area) was considered criminal — it was dangerous to walk. Now it has stabilized, a new generation is growing up, no one will smack you upside the head,» he assured me. We’ll verify that.

There are certainly criminals in the city; police are searching for them for theft, fraud, threats to kill, illegal entry into the country, drug possession, and document forgery. One 26-year-old man is wanted for deserting a military unit after the partial mobilization.

I tried to find fresh traces of misdeeds at the trauma unit — but no, no one with a smashed head had been brought in; people were calmly sitting in line. Children walk around on their own, many ground floors lack bars, and the surroundings of Otradnoye station turned out to be a simple industrial zone.

Grandmothers by the school waiting for their grandchildren knew nothing about crime, and even the local history museum couldn’t help. But at a beer shop they again advised going to Vtoroy Zavod, because it’s «trouble upon trouble» there… By the time I get there, it will be getting dark.

«One hell of a neighborhood! Nothing but crime!»

“Vtoroy Zavod” turned out to be a management company; the area itself is called the 8th microdistrict. A staffer at the management company assured me its criminal reputation was left in the 1990s, and I let my guard down. Dropping into a shashlik grill before leaving, I wondered: maybe people are simply lying to the press?

— Could you tell me, is your neighborhood calm? My sister’s thinking of renting an apartment, — I fibbed.

— A normal, quiet neighborhood. I leave work at 11 p.m., there are no fights. I’ve lived here for three years — it’s normal, peaceful, — the saleswoman replied.

That really seemed to be it. One man ran across on a red light, others climbed into the station over a fence, another pair rode one scooter together. Not such a criminal city, it turns out?

And right before departure, when it had grown truly dark and even Odintsovo’s center looked at least a little frightening, they appear. Two arm-in-arm, shouting, staggering on the sidewalk, finding a third. Of course I went to them, I just couldn’t think up a better question:

— Hello! How’s the neighborhood here, is it worth renting an apartment? Not criminal?

— One hell of a neighborhood! Nothing but crime! — the guy shouts, laughing.

— Joking? — I ask his friend. He nods; the guys aren’t local.

Overall in Moscow Oblast crime has risen, and clearance has fallen. According to the latest data from the prosecutor’s office, in the first eight months of the year the law was broken 48,127 times in the region.

Over the same period in 2024, 1,529 fewer crimes were recorded in the Moscow region, and 1,727 more were solved. Excluding “other crimes,” people are most often harmed by fraudsters (22%) and thieves (21%).

Earlier, residents of the Moscow Oblast towns of Lyubertsy and Ramenskoye complained about teenagers staging mass brawls with gunfire.