Russian Mafia

Russian Mafia (Русская мафия, Russkaya Mafiya), Red Mob (Красная мафия, Krasnaya Mafiya) or Bratva (Братва; slang for 'brotherhood') or Mafya or Mafiya, is a name given to a broad group of organized crime groups from the former Soviet Union (FSU) territories after its fall in 1991.

Contents

History

Organized crime existed in Russia since the days of the Tsars and Imperial Russia in the form of banditry and thievary, known as Vory v zakone or "thieves in law". This class of criminal had to abide by certain rules in the prison system. One such rule was cooperation with the authorities of any kind was forbidden. During World War II some prisoners made a deal with the government to enlist in the armed forces in return for a reduced sentence, but upon their return to prison they were attacked and killed by inmates who remained loyal to the rules of the thieves.[1][2]

During the Leonid Brezhnev era when the Soviet economy took a downhill turn, the Vory would take control of the black market with the help of corrupt officials, supplying products such as electronics which were hard to reach for the ordinary Soviet citizen.

The real breakthrough for criminal organizations occurred during the economic disaster and mass emigration of the 1990s that followed the fall of the Soviet Union. Desperate for money, many former government workers turned to crime, others joined the Soviet citizens who moved overseas, and the Mafia became a natural extension of this trend. Former KGB agents, sportsmen and veterans of the Afghan and Chechen Wars, now finding themselves out-of-work but with experience in areas which could prove useful in crime, joined the increasing crime wave.[3] Widespread corruption, poverty and distrust of authorities only contributed to the rise of organized crime. Contract killings reached an all-time high with many gangland murders taking place, a substantial number remaining unsolved. The new criminal class of Russia took on a more Westernized and businesslike approach to organized crime as the more code-of-honor based Vory faded into extinction.[4]

The former Soviet Bloc's opening up to the world and the internationalization of its economy also gave the Russian mafia connections to other criminal organizations around the world such as the Chinese Triads or the Sicilian Cosa Nostra. Connections with Latin American drug cartels allowed the Russian mafia to import cocaine into the country.[5]

Widespread immigration in the 1990s allowed Russian criminal organizations to spread themselves further around the world. Prior to the collapse of communism Russian Jews were allowed to emigrate from the Soviet Union, and many criminals took advantage of this if they were themselves Jewish, or if not, acquiring a Jewish passport to be granted permission to leave. In the United States a key location for Russian organized crime was the Russian-Jewish community of Brighton Beach in Brooklyn, New York. Vyacheslav "Yaponchik" Ivankov was the first major Russian organized crime figure prosecuted by the U.S. government, running his extortion operations out of Brighton Beach.[6] Russian organized crime has spread to many other countries as well including Israel, Hungary, Canada, South Africa and Spain.[7]

Organizations

Notable members

Foreign businessmen and the Russian mafia

An unknown number of foreign businessmen, believed to be in the low thousands, arrived in Russia from all over the world during the early and mid 1990s to seek their fortune and to cash in on the transition from a communist to a free market/capitalist society. This period was referred to by many of the businessmen as the "second great gold rush".

Generally, 1990 to 1998 was a wild and unstable time for most foreign businessmen operating in Russia. Dangerous battles with the Russian Mob occurred, with many being killed or wounded. The Mafia welcomed the foreign businessmen and their expertise in facilitating business and making things happen in a stagnant and new economy. The Mafia considered them as a good source of hard currency, to be extorted under the usual guise of "protection money". Many different Mafia groups would fiercely compete to be able to "protect" a certain businessman; in exchange, the businessman would not have to worry about having more than one group showing up demanding tribute from him. Many foreign businessmen left Russia after these incidents.

Foreign businessmen associated with the Russian mafia

There Have Been Incedents Where Members Of The Russian Mafia Have Been Doing Work In Such Places As New York, Los Angelas, Los Vegas, Chicago, Toronto And Vancouver. The Russian Mafia has Supporters All Over The World, Who Claim To be Members, But These Are The Only Non Russian Citys That Are Known For Sure To Have Russian Mafia Involvment

The Russian Mafia in popular culture

Films

Notable films making use of the so-called Russian mafia include:

Video games

The Russian mafia are present in many video games, mostly as enemies to the player, including Max Payne, Stranglehold and the Grand Theft Auto series. They appear as an ally in Mercenaries: Playground Of Destruction.

Comics/anime

Books

Television

See also

References

  1. ↑ Varlam Shalamov, Essays on Criminal World, "Bitch War" (Shalamov's essay online (Russian)) in: Varlam Shalamov (1998) "Complete Works" (Варлам Шаламов. Собрание сочинений в четырех томах), vol. 2, printed by publishers Vagrius and Khudozhestvennaya Literatura, ISBN 5-280-03163-1, ISBN 5-280-03162-3
  2. ↑ A. V. Kuchinsky Prison Encyclopedia, (Кучинский А.В. - Тюремная энциклопедия, a fragment online (Russian))
  3. ↑ BBC News - The Rise and rise of the Russian mafia
  4. ↑ Vory v Zakone has hallowed place in Russian criminal lore
  5. ↑ MSNBC- Russian mob trading arms for cocaine with Colombia rebels
  6. ↑ FBI Official Website - Vyacheslav Kirillovich Ivankov
  7. ↑ BBC News - Spain raids 'major Russian gang'
  8. ↑ Oleg Liakhovich, "A Mob by Any Other Name", The Moscow News.
  9. ↑ B. Ohr, Effective Methods to Combat Transnational Organized Crime in Criminal Justice Processes, U.S. Dept. of Justice.
  10. ↑ Домашняя библиотека компромата Сергея Горшкова (Home library of Sergei Gorshkov)
  11. ↑ US, COMM, PERM, p. 201.
  12. ↑ Russian-Armenian organized crime 'like the 1930s New York mob', Los Angeles Daily News.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 13.5 13.6 Friedman, Robert I. Red Mafiya: How the Russian Mob Has Invaded America. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2000.
  14. ↑ The HUMINT Offensive from Putin's Chekist State Anderson, Julie (2007), International Journal of Intelligence and Counter-Intelligence, 20:2, 258 - 316, page 309.
  15. ↑ http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/12/13/1071125712163.html Wise guys, tough guys, dead guys] John Silvester, The Age December 14, 2003
  16. ↑ Why gangland's bloody code is hard to crack John Silvester, The Age April 20, 2003
  17. ↑ Kavkaz Center - Georgian Police Seize House of Top Russian Mafiosi
  18. ↑ Jürgen Roth, Die Gangster aus dem Osten, Europa Verlag Publishers
  19. ↑ Bandits, Gangsters and the Mafia (Martin McCauley)
  20. ↑ Hughes, James, Chechnya: The Causes of a Protrated Post-Soviet Conflict, 2001
  21. ↑ BBC News- Alleged Russian mafia boss cleared
  22. ↑ Semyon Mogilevich, the 'East European mafia boss', captured in Moscow
  23. ↑ Aleksandr Zhilin, The Shadow of Chechen Crime Over Moscow, The Jamestown Foundation 1999
  24. ↑ BBC article, with information on Alexander Solonik
  25. ↑ BBC News, So Who are the Russian Mafia?, BBC Online Network, April 1, 1998
  26. ↑ CNN:Russian organized crime implicated in skating scandal

Further reading

External links