Russian mafia

Russian mafia is a broad label for organized criminal groups originating in or operating across Russia and Russian-speaking communities abroad. The groups vary in structure, activities, and ties to state institutions.

Organized crime: Coordinated criminal activity carried out by structured groups for sustained gain. Russian mafia groups are one historically varied form of organized crime.
Soviet Union: A socialist federation that existed from 1922 until its dissolution in 1991. Soviet institutions and social conditions formed part of the setting for later criminal networks.
Vyacheslav Ivankov: A Soviet-born Russian organized-crime figure known as Yaponchik, active in Russia and the United States. His career became a prominent example of criminal networks spanning Russian-speaking communities.
Bratva: A Russian colloquial term for a criminal gang or organized-crime group, literally meaning brotherhood. It is a more specific colloquial label often used interchangeably with Russian mafia.
Russian organized crime in the United States: Criminal networks linked to Russia or Russian-speaking communities that operate in the United States. This regional case shows how the broad label traveled into American law-enforcement and media discourse.
Protection racket: Extortion in which criminals demand payment in exchange for protection from threats they create or control. Extortion and imposed protection have been associated with some groups’ dealings with businesses.
Thieves in law: A status-bearing criminal fraternity that developed in the Soviet Union, with its own codes and traditions. Its prison-derived traditions influenced some post-Soviet criminal identities and hierarchies.
Semion Mogilevich: A Ukrainian-born businessman accused by law-enforcement agencies of leading a major transnational criminal network. His case illustrates the difficulty of separating alleged criminal leadership from complex international business activity.
Italian-American Mafia: Organized-crime groups of Italian origin or heritage operating in the United States, often organized into families. Its family-based image differs from the more fluid networks commonly associated with Russian mafia.
Cybercrime: Criminal activity involving computers, networks, or digital systems. Some groups described as Russian-speaking organized crime networks have been linked to online fraud and extortion.

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