Russian traffic deaths are on the rise, in part due to wartime airport closures and crashes caused by soldiers

Fatalities from car crashes on highways leading to southern Russia rose for the second year in a row during this year’s summer vacation season, according to a new report from Verstka Media based on traffic police data. Traffic deaths on Russia’s M4, P22, and P217 highways between the beginning of May and the end of July increased by 20 percent from 2023 to 2024.

In the first seven months of this year, Russia had a total of 7,430 traffic deaths. That’s 105 more than in the same period last year, 284 more than in the first seven months of 2022, and 140 more than in the first seven months of 2021.

In July, Mikhail Chernikov, the head of Russia’s federal traffic police, told Izvestia that there were 4.5 percent more road accidents last year than in 2022. He attributed the increase to “the redistribution of traffic flows,” changes in supply chains, and a rise in both freight and passenger road transportation by road. He also said there’s been a surge in vehicle traffic to southern Russia compared in recent years due to airport closures there as a result of the war in Ukraine. “In the face of external restraints, domestic tourism, and road tourism in particular, is developing actively. With most airports in southern Russia closed for over two years, a significantly higher share of passengers have used road transport,” Chernikov said.

Verstka notes that the increase in road fatalities is also partially a result of traffic accidents involving the military. In the first eight months of 2023, the number of traffic violations committed by soldiers in 14 border regions tripled compared to 2021, reaching about 2,600.