Rostov Police Officers Compensated for Upholding Integrity in Anti-Bribery Initiative

Police officers in the Rostov region of southern Russia are being reimbursed for the bribe amounts they refuse, part of a new anticorruption strategy, according to the region’s police chief, Alexander Rechitsky.

Rechitsky, who oversees the Rostov branch of the Interior Ministry, informed reporters that officers maintaining their integrity by declining bribes will receive full compensation for the offered amounts, effectively allowing them to retain the money regardless.

“Every bribe that an employee is approached with will be reimbursed entirely under my directive,” Rechitsky remarked, as reported by the state news agency TASS. He characterized this initiative as «a reward for exhibiting a strong anti-corruption position.»

He noted that the police force had initiated 25 criminal investigations against individuals suspected of bribery within the past two months but did not reveal the total sum of the bribes offered to officers.

Since the start of the year, it has been reported that law enforcement in the Rostov region has thwarted 260 attempts at bribery, with 135 of these cases being uncovered by the officers themselves. Authorities claimed to have identified a total of 767 corruption-related incidents in the first half of 2025.

Rechitsky also indicated that among the police department’s priorities for the rest of the year are combating phone scams, financial fraud, illegal logging, and the trafficking of alcohol and drugs.