The authorities in Russia want to legalize cars stolen in EU countries. In Germany, they fear that this could sharply increase the number of thefts. How great is the danger?
The Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs has proposed legalizing cars in the country that are declared internationally wanted "at the initiative of enemy countries". The Russian authorities include all 27 countries of the European Union, as well as Switzerland, Norway, the USA, Canada, Japan, South Korea and Australia.
The corresponding bill was submitted to the State Duma in early February. In March, the topic also reached the German media. "Putin's law could increase car thefts in Europe", wrote the newspaper "Bild". And "Münchner Merkur" came out with the headline: "Russia wants to legalize cars stolen in the EU".
Currently, Russian laws prohibit the registration of cars in the country if they are internationally wanted. Now, however, the authorities are proposing to abolish this ban and are giving an example of Germany. According to the Interior Ministry, as of January 2026, 123 cars declared wanted by Berlin were located on Russian territory. The German authorities have not provided information about the reason for the search and are not responding to Moscow's inquiries, according to the Russian Interior Ministry.
Another goal of the new law is the legalization of cars declared wanted by Ukraine. In all likelihood, these are cars confiscated in the occupied territories.
There is really no exchange of data with Russia
The Federal Criminal Police Office, which investigates car thefts, confirmed to DW that there is no exchange of information with Russia on such cases. Is 123 stolen cars a lot or a little? They did not want to answer this question, but they did present us with their statistics.
According to it, 30,373 vehicles were stolen in Germany in 2024. Only 8,858 cases, i.e. 29.2%, were successfully solved. The department refused to give a forecast of whether the new Russian law could lead to an increase in the number of car thefts in Germany.
The Berlin police union also confirmed that to date there is no exchange of information with the authorities of the Russian Federation. "As far as we know, in the past there have been cases when Russian authorities contacted us and the wanted cars were seized there", the representative of the trade union Benjamin Yendro told DW. "But we can imagine that at the moment hardly any official from Germany would go to Russia to pick up a stolen car. Moreover, the insurance amounts have often been paid long ago by the time the car is discovered", he believes.
Yendro defines the proposal of the Russian Interior Ministry as a "fatal signal" and "encouragement of crime". "For many years now, the level of car thefts in our country has been stably high. Such a law will further undermine the efforts of law enforcement agencies in the fight against international gangs that resell stolen cars", says the representative of the police union. "For many years, cars have been stolen, transported to Eastern Europe, where they are immediately disassembled into parts, as manufacturers have significantly strengthened protection against theft through GPS trackers installed in cars. However, there are still quite a few cars that are stolen almost according to a "shopping list". And they very quickly end up in countries that we can no longer reach," continued Jandro.
In Russia, they claim that the Germans are staging thefts
The Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs stated that the purpose of the new bill is "to protect the interests of Russians" who have bought a car that is internationally wanted. But some Russian experts gave another explanation for the new measure: the cars stolen from Germany and transported to Russia are transported by the Germans themselves, i.e. it is a staged theft. This was stated by the deputy chairman of the Russian Motorists' Protection Commission, Alexander Kholodov, to the Autonews portal. He called it a "fraudulent scheme" for the double sale of cars: both in Germany and in Russia.
"Such a practice already existed in the 1990s and early 2000s. A contract theft, in which the car is sold in Germany, arrives in Russia or Lithuania. And then, a month later, the owner declares that the car has disappeared. There he also receives compensation from the insurance company. The insurance company does not come here for the car. Theoretically, such a thing could happen, but I do not think it will be widespread", Kholodov suggested.
The German Association of Insurance Companies denied that such a fraudulent scheme is really widespread. "We know nothing about the described scheme and proceed from the fact that in the overwhelming majority of cases, car thefts are real thefts, not staged", they said.