Moscow Police Detain 950 Migration Violators in Operation 'Nelegал-2026'

Police officers conducting raids in northwestern Moscow as part of the nationwide Operation "Nelegал-2026" identified approximately 950 violators, including 130 employers who illegally recruited foreign workers, according to a statement from the Russian Interior Ministry's Moscow Directorate.

Detained foreign nationals were taken to territorial police departments for verification against Interior Ministry records and administrative liability proceedings. Identified violations included illegal registration of foreign citizens, unlawful work activity, breach of residence regulations, and provision of false information to migration authorities. Administrative protocols were drawn up against both foreign nationals and employers.

Eight migrants who previously failed to comply with deportation orders will be forcibly deported from the country.

Twenty-two criminal cases have been opened in connection with migration offenses: six for organizing illegal migration, six for fictitious registration of a foreign national or stateless person at a place of residence in the Russian Federation, and ten under Article 327 of the Russian Criminal Code (counterfeiting, manufacture, or circulation of forged documents, state awards, stamps, seals, or blanks). Additionally, 14 criminal cases have been opened for other crimes committed by foreign nationals.