Russian Mafia

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The Russian Mafia, aka "Red Mafia", is a name given abroad to groups of organized criminals of various ethnicity which appeared from the Soviet Union after its disintegration. Apart from ethnic Russians, the term comprises the Chechen, the Georgian, the Ukrainian, the Armenian, the Azeri mafiosi, as well as so called "mafia" groups from other former USSR republics. [For sake of the article, the terms "mafia" and "mafiya" will both be used.]

The Russian Mafia appears to be organized in similar ways to the legendary Italian mafia. It is believed, however, to be a very loose organization with internal feuds and murders being commonplace. A particularly brutal practice rumored to be utilized by the Russian Mafia is the killing of not only of the individual who has "snitched" or turned against the Organizatsiya, but also the individual's family.

Despite seeming to arise during the Fall of the Soviet Union, organized crime had existed throughout the imperial and communist eras as a form of open rebellion against the systems in the form of the "Thief's World". During this time they were fiercely honor based and often attacked and killed traitors among their ranks. Nevertheless, during World War II, many enlisted in the Russian Army resulting in the Suka Wars, or Bitch Wars, which killed many of the thieves who were branded as government allies as well as the original thief underworld during Stalin's reign. The criminals, seeking a new survival strategy, began to ally with the elite in the Soviet Union as a means of survival, creating a powerful Russian black market.

Despite the Kremlin's attempts to reform, the criminals continued to grow in power. Nevertheless, the real breakthrough for criminal organizations occurred during the economic disaster of the 1990s that followed the fall of the Soviet Union. Desperate for money, many former government workers turned to crime and the Mafia became a natural extension of this trend. According to official estimates, some 100,000 Russians are hard-core mobsters, with a large, but unknown number engaging in these criminal practices on and off. Image:Antikiller.jpg

Many of the bosses and main members of the Russian mafia are believed to be ex-Soviet Army and ex-KGB officers who lost their posts in the reduction of forces that began in 1993 after the end of the Cold War. It is also believed that many of the groups' enforcers are ex-Russian Spetsnaz special forces, an organisation renowned for its brutality. Russian mobsters recruit sportsmen, too - boxers, martial artists, weightlifters, [as funding for sports had decreased sharply] and other olympic athletes. In some cases, the Russian Mafiya has recruited olympic sharpshooters to carry out hits.

Since the mid-90s the Russians have been trying to expand into America, most often via the trafficking of drugs and illegal weapons. This has led to some brutal wars with the organizations already present, including the Italian Mafia and the Yakuza. The group is believed to have links to Colombian drug smugglers and many smaller gangs as a result of the fall of the Soviet Union. Some also believe they are at the heart of gangs smuggling illegal workers west to the European Union and often Britain, though no proof has been offered for this at the time. The home of the Russian Mafia in America is in the Brighton Beach (dubbed by Russians "Little Odessa") neighborhood in New York.

Over the last few years, the FBI and Russian security services have cracked down on the Mafia, though the impact of this has yet to be measured. The FBI especially has not put the resources into investigations targeting the Russian Mafia for fear of reprisal against its agents. Many mafioso have become rich in America and have begun to imitate the Italian Mafia in lifestyle. This has led to the apparent softening of the mafia, though in reality they may well be as dangerous as ever.

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Composition

The Russian mafia is not limited to ethnic Russians, but to many nationalities from the former Soviet Union, most of which are now collectively known as the Commonwealth of Independent States. There are many stereotypes of the Russian mafia, including that it is dominated by Jews and Chechens, which is misleading.

Chechens indeed make up a disproportionate amount of Russian mafia members inside of Russia and Ukraine, and (arguably) Belarus. However, their presence is severely limited in other countries where the Russian mafia operates, notably America and Israel. Thus, while noticeable in within the mafia's organization in Russia, Chechens play a small role in the Russian Mafia's overseas membership.

Russian Jews are also present in the Mafia structure, however the subject is complicated by several factors. First, more Jews are present in the Russian mafia's overseas operations than inside Russia because Russian Jews are more likely to successfully receive permission to immigrate via a USSR political refugee status. Second, despite Israel's Law of Return's explicit restriction of all immigrants (regardless of religion) with criminal implications from receiving citizenship, many Jewish Russian mobsters use evasive measures to still receive Israeli citizenship. Additionally, non-Jewish Russian mobsters often fraudulently claim Jewish ancestry in order to gain easier movement in and out of Israel (where the Russian Mafia has established a large operating base). Conversely, some Jews in the mafia either actively hide or do not acknowledge their Jewish background for various reasons. Finally, many ethnic Russians have partial Jewish ancestry, which they may or may not acknowledge. Because of these factors, it impossible to tell the true number of Jews in the Russian mafia. And while they by no means dominate the organization, a significant number of Russian mafia members do have Jewish roots.

The Russian Mafia also has a multitude of other nationalities such Ukranians, Belarusians, Armenians, Moldovans, Khazaks, Uzbeks, Georgians, Dagestanis, and others. Additionally, countries such as Armenia, Georgia, Ukraine, Estonia, Lithuania, Belarus, and Moldova have their own mafia organizations which have extensive links to the Russian mafia.

In the end, greed and ruthlessness counts for much more than one's nationality in the Russian mafia, whose bosses' main concern is profit, not politics.

The stereotypical Russian or foreign businessman, is a lucky entrepreneur who started from nearly nothing got rich through participation in the free market during the transition to capitalism.

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Known Russian Mafia Personalities

  • Viktor Bout (former KGB Major turned arms merchant)
  • Konstantin Golikov(notorious assassin, now has been killed)
  • Sergei Mikhas Mikhailov
  • Grigory Lushansky (leader of Nordex)
  • Evsei "Little Don" Agron (killed)
  • Ludwig "Tarzan" Fainberg (incarcerated in an Israeli prison)
  • Valentin Chpelivia (involved in the Kremlingate according to Lucy Komisar)
  • Vyacheslav "Yaponchik" Ivankov (incarcerated in an American prison)
  • Otar "Otarik" Kvantrishvili (commonly known as the "Godfather of the Russian Mafia," killed)
  • Alimzhan Tokhtakhounov (accused of fixing figure skating at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics).
  • Sergei Belov (Boss of eurocorp)
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Foreign Businessmen And The Russian Mafia

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

In regard to the Russia experience, there were basically two types of foreign businessmen, the lucky ones and the unlucky ones. For the lucky ones, huge fortunes were made and they were able to return to their native homeland with their life, limbs and money. Many clever foreign businessmen made huge profits early on, by good timing, chiefly by buying up products in nearly worthless Rubles, storing them for a time and after the introduction of the free market economy, later selling the same products for hard currency such as US Dollars. Many became millionaires, literally overnight. Others took advantage of astronomical interest rates being paid by Russian banks for any deposits during this period. Although many banks failed and depositors lost their holdings, the well-connected foreign businessmen usually had inside knowledge of an impending bank crash, and would rescue their money before the bank collapsed. Others at this time, wired their earnings out of volatile Russia, most often to secret bank accounts in Switzerland. Many foreign busnessmen, the unlucky ones, had met a grim and grisly end, often killed outright or had their fortune stolen by the local Mafia or even by corrupt officials with the Russian government. Foreign businessmen during this period were looked upon as good for Russia and its fledgling economy. Generally, they lived the high-life in either Moscow or St. Petersburg and enjoyed a relative luxurious life in comparison to the average Russian. Often living in the best flats, with a country dacha, in the company of beautiful women and driving expensive imported cars, they set the stage for the "want to be's", the up and coming local Russian businessmen who attempted to emulate them. The Russians even incorporated into their language, a whole new anglicized word for this new type of person and way of doing things....."buzinessman".

Generally, 1990 through to 1998 was a wild and unstable time for most foreign businessmen operating in Russia, with their endless and dangerous battles with the Russian Mob, 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. Listed below are some of the more notorious and serious incidents of conflicts between foreign businessmen and the Russian Mafia, and very few ever lived to tell their tale. (ref: book by Richard Yorke, The Russian Connection, 2003, Moscow Pravda Press. The story of Foreign businessmen operating in the post Soviet Union during the turbulent 1990's.)

  • Lee Wong (Chinese businessman and fast food chain owner, shot in the face and seriously wounded at Ploschad Revolutsi metro station in central Moscow, February 1997, for complaining to police about Mafia harrasment. "Moscow Times Newspaper Feb 27 1997)
  • Paul Tatum (American joint owner of Radisson-Slavanskaya Hotel in east end Moscow; killed in a sensational shooting in a Moscow Subway station in 1996, for refusing to pay "krysha" and be squeezed out by a silent partner)
  • Ken Rowe (Canadian businessman and joint owner of Moscow Aerostar Hotel; threatened by the Russian mafia in an attempt to force him out of a joint hotel-airline venture. Rowe later fought back and seized an Aeroflot aircraft in Montreal Canada to recover his award in a Russian court.)
  • Richard F. Hollington (Australian businessman and owner of a Moscow Russia discotheque; killed in 1998 for control of the business)
  • Martin Reynolds (American businessman and owner of several Moscow restaurants; brutally killed for not paying protection money)
  • John Tillmann (Canadian businessman and owner of Moscow street kiosks; shot and wounded on Sirenevy Blvd in east side Moscow, October 1997 for not paying "krysha",protection money. Mafia hitman Sergei Nechayev killed in the exchange of gun fire with Tillmann "Moscow Izvestia Newspaper Oct 1997)
  • Christopher Kline (British businessman and owner of a Moscow department store; killed by an explosive device for control of his business)
  • Tony Valito (Italian businessman and owner of a wholesale machinery outlet; mutilated as a warning for him to pay higher protection money. Valito was president of the foreign businessmen association in Moscow)
  • Jan Praamsma (Dutch businessman and cheese distributor; killed by being drowned in the Moskva River for not paying protection money)
  • Ariel "the spider" Abramson (Well-known and colorful Israeli businessman lured into a St. Petersburg subway in September 1998 and murdered for not paying protection money. "St. Petersburg Free Press")

The Russian Mafia is also one of the main factions in the Lucasarts game Mercenaries.

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See also

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References and further reading

  • James O. Finckenauer & Elin J. Waring, Russian Mafia in America: Immigration, Culture and Crime, Northeastern University Press Boston, 1998, ISBN 1-55553-374-4.
  • Robert I. Friedman, Red Mafiya, Penguin Group, 2002, ISBN 0-42518-687-3.
  • Yvonne Bornstein and Mark Ribowsky, "Eleven Days of Hell: My True Story Of Kidnapping, Terror, Torture And Historic FBI & KGB Rescue" AuthorHouse, 2004. ISBN 1418493023.
  • Teresa Staffer, "Russian mafia leaves Bay Area Jews alone, officials say," The Jewish News Weekly, March 22, 1996.
  • Richard Yorke, The Russian Connection, 2003, The story of Foreign businessmen operating in the post Soviet Union during the turbulent 1990's. Printed in English,Russian,French and German, Moscow Pravda Press. 0023-677456

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