Thread by @ChrisO_wiki

1/ The Russian mafia has become a silent partner in Russia's war effort, in another indication of how close the state and the criminal underworld have become. An analysis shows how high-profile gangsters have fought and in some cases died in Ukraine. ⬇️

2/ The independent Russian media outlet Polygon Media reports that senior figures among Russia's vory – its criminal elite – have lent their support to Russia's war in Ukraine. This is a major change in attitude for the vory, who are traditionally anti-authority.

3/ Influential members – 'authorities' – of at least 10 criminal gangs have died in the war, as this map shows. They include men who have been convicted of robbery, extortion and murder, and in some cases were serving decades-long prison sentences.

4/ Polygon reports that when the Wagner Group began recruiting prisoners, the criminal elite – the 'thieves in law' (vor v zakone) – were initially hostile due to traditionally antagonistic relationships between the vory and state authorities.

5/ Attitudes changed after Shakro Molodogo (Zakhar Kalashov), the most senior vory currently imprisoned, urged convicts to join Wagner. His appeal was "broadcast on prison TV in the Kostroma, Vladimir, Magadan and Novosibirsk regions immediately after Putin's New Year address."

6/ Olga Romanova of the 'Russia Behind Bars' prisoners' rights group says: "Thieves' traditions have absolutely changed under Putin and thanks to him, in his 20 years, prisons are no longer divided into 'red' [run by the Federal Penitentiary Service] and 'black' [run by thieves].

7/ "The world of thieves has merged with the world of the bosses. Shakro Molodogo is linked to the head of the Investigative Committee, [Alexander] Bastrykin - they are one gang", she says.

8/ (It's worth mentioning that the armed forces have been deeply infiltrated by criminal gangs, to the point that some gangsters have actually lived on military bases and extorted the soldiers there, with the connivance of corrupt officers.)

https://twitter.com/ChrisO_wiki/status/1539019204267057153

9/ Although a number of prominent 'thieves in law' have died in the war, Romanova says some are not fighting and have used the opportunity to legally 'escape'. "These are people from organised crime groups and with money.

10/ There's nothing to prevent someone with that kind of money from making a deal with the head of the prison and Prigozhin to be recorded as "enlisted" and then hole up in the mountains of Chechnya. And it's not for nothing that Prigozhin and Kadyrov had a good relationship."

Source:
plgn.media/mafiya-gibnet-…