The Kremlin has implemented the "Time of Heroes" program, which channels selected demobilized veterans into roles within public administration and political office. This initiative follows Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, which led to the mobilization of hundreds of thousands of military personnel. Since 2022, Russia also mobilized up to 180,000 former convicts for military service.

Research on disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration indicates that unemployment, psychological trauma, and weak institutional support can create opportunities for criminal groups to recruit former combatants. In the 1990s, after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Russia experienced an increase in organized crime. During this period, criminal groups gained control of various markets, including banks and factories. Urban areas in Russia experienced contract killings, shootings, and car bombings, and the nation's murder rate more than doubled between 1990 and 1994, peaking at over 33 killings per 100,000 people.

Vladimir Putin rose to power in 1999, and the Russian state expanded its security apparatus after that year. Currently, criminal networks in Russia facilitate sanctions evasion by transporting restricted goods through parallel trade routes and acquiring sanctioned technologies via intermediary networks in third countries. Analysts note the "Time of Heroes" program is an effort by the Kremlin to manage the reintegration of a large number of demobilized military personnel, including former convicts, into civilian society. Historical parallels in Russia from the 1990s illustrate how a period of state weakness and demobilization can correlate with an increase in organized crime. The current program may be a proactive measure to prevent potential social instability and criminal recruitment by integrating veterans directly into state structures, thereby seeking to maintain state control and legitimacy, especially in the context of ongoing international sanctions and existing criminal networks.