MOSCOW, August 6. /TASS/. The homicide rate is steadily declining in Russia, a spokesperson for the Prosecutor General’s Office told TASS, citing crime statistics for the first half of the year.

"A downward trend in homicides and attempted murders was recorded throughout the country. The numbers dropped 6.5% (from 4,577 in the first half of 2018 to 4,281 in the first half of 2019). A similar trend is observed in crimes involving willful infliction of bodily harm. These sorts of crimes fell by 5.2% compared to 2018 (from 11,983 to 11,361)," the spokesperson said.

Major felonies dipped one percent lower than the same period last year. The number of people suffering serious bodily harm decreased by 3.7% to 19,355. Fatalities from criminal offences subsided 3.6% to 12,591.

In the first half of 2018, Russia’s law enforcement agencies recorded 100,000 drug trafficking crimes, 1.7% less than in the same period for 2018.