AFP - President Dmitry Medvedev launched a sweeping crackdown Thursday on Russia's powerful interior ministry, sacking over a dozen top officials as he vowed tough action to eradicate the "evil" of corruption.

"This is only the beginning," Medvedev warned in a speech to senior interior ministry officials as he outlined drastic moves including halving the 20,000-strong staff of the main ministry administration.

Following the speech, the Kremlin said Medvedev was sacking two deputy interior ministers and 15 other top officials with the rank of general or colonel in various regions of Russia.

Medvedev ordered the government led by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, his powerful predecessor and mentor, to submit a new draft law to regulate the Russian police to parliament by December 1.

He gave Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev one month to submit a new plan for combating corruption within the ministry, saying that "we must cleanse state structures of this evil."

Medvedev's announcement followed a string of crimes committed by police, including murders and rapes of suspects in custody, that have received high-profile media coverage over the past year.

"A whole series of incidents involving the interior ministry has resonated substantially and -- let's say it directly -- has undermined the authority of the interior ministry and its employees," Medvedev said.

The 44-year-old president identified reform of Russia's notoriously corrupt or inept judiciary and law enforcement agencies as a top priority shortly after he took office in May 2008.

In a firm and wide-ranging address, parts of which were broadcast on state television, Medvedev lashed out at investigators whom he said "managed to solve barely half of the crimes" they looked into.

He said every year more than 2,000 murders or attempted murders, 124,000 burglaries and 760,000 cases of theft went unsolved in Russia.

"These figures are frightening," Medvedev said, according to a transcript of the speech on the Kremlin website. "But most importantly, behind them lies the fate of real people -- of victims, their loved ones, their family members."

Medvedev said the main ministry administration -- often criticised for being bloated -- would be slashed from its current size of 19,970 staff to 10,000.

In a concerted media blitz, the Kremlin issued a five-page statement as Medvedev delivered his speech, saying the president had signed a decree spelling out a range of measures to "reform" the ministry.

These include taking away from the ministry responsibility for deporting foreigners, carrying out automobile inspections and supervising intoxicated detainees -- tasks corrupt police can exploit for personal gain.

The Kremlin said Medvedev had sent to parliament a bill stipulating that employment within the interior ministry be considered an "aggravating penal factor" in legal proceedings against police officers who commit crimes.

A survey published this week by the Levada polling centre indicated that Russian society takes a dim view of its police force.

According to the poll, published Tuesday, 67 percent of Russians say they "fear" police, while 77 percent say they do not feel safe against arbitrary police behavior.

Global graft watchdog Transparency International ranked Russia 146th out of 180 countries surveyed in its 2009 Corruption Perception Index, alongside Zimbabwe and Sierra Leone.