the russian mafia

anyone know if the russian mafia is really as strong as they say? i have read a lot about them. some say that a few of these organizations have up to 5000 members(solnsnetskaya bratva or something like that). but they also say that independent gangsters or small gangs say they are part of them so they become feared. or that there is almost always an internal struggle or something like that. and if you read the news you can see that these guys are almost everywhere in the world its crazy.

There may very well be a lot of them, but they're hardly organized and they've yet to even attempt to displace the Italians in a single racket (even in South Brooklyn, where Russians now outnumber the Italians). But it makes good copy, so the dopey media likes to write about it.

yeah but if you see what they write: former kgb agents veterans from afghanistan. if you have that kind of guys in your crew then you should be feared.

Russian oc is alot more international and widespread. There not as organised as the mafia, but i dont think that the mafia structure of family is something that would really work for them.
And also i dont think that the russians would really need to displace the italians to be successful. http://www.bunker8.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/orgcrim/3802.htm

Heres a few interesting articles on gang structures.

As I've understood the current situation of the russian mafia or as they call it: bratva... it's a growing threat. Thousands(?) of connected-members and hundreds of inside-guys, vor v zakones. I think that every organisation that is part of the.. -uhm.. bratvas whole system is kind of connected to the main guy, pakhan - the russian godfather.

http://www.bunker8.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/orgcrim/3805b.htm
article on russian organised crime

Russian organized crime is certainly a force in Russia, Europe, and other parts of the world. But, like other groups in the past, it's presence in the U.S. has been overblown by the media and by some in law enforcement over the past 20 years. As has been pointed out before, the same thing happened with the Albanians later on.


"Challenging the Russian Mafia Mystique"
https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/jr000247b.pdf

Who has more power - the Russian Mafia or the Vors (highlighted in Eastern Promises)? And does anyone know the difference between the two organizations?

As far as I have gathered the Russian Mafiya and the Vory v Zakone aren't two distinct organizations. Theres just not enough Vors to be able to afford not working with the new breed of Russian mobsters. And for the msot part the two idealogies are similar enough to be itnertwinded

The Vors are the Old-School mentality gangsters born in the Soviet prison system. Traditionalists who have their own codes, conduct and rituals that are very deeply intwined with the culture of Russian gulags.

After the fall of Communism a new breed of ambitious upstarts began to grow into what is now commonly thought of as the Russian Mafia. They are the more familiar types of gangsters. Money-minded and more pliable then the old breed.

However within Russian mob outfits Vors still command respect. Not out of role withing the organization*s) but out of tradition, reputation and underworld "honor". But even that seems to be circumstantial these days.

Also, on a side not. The Vor phenomenon has been adopted by other Eastern Europeans, not just Russians. Mostly former Soviet bloc countries. So you can find Vors withing Chechen, Ukrainian, Russian Jewish, and even Slavic criminal groups.

So all in all, to summarize.
What is left of the dwindling Vory tradition and it's adherents
Make up a minority percentage within Russian Mafia organizations. But seem more often then not to be within positions of power, if not bosses in their own right.

The reason the 'Russian Mafia' sounds so powerful is because a truckload of different ethnic organized crime gangs are labeled under the colloquial term 'Russian Mafia'.
If you list all of the gangs, you'll get :

Ethnic Russian gangs such as the Solntsevskaya Bratva, Tambov Gang, Izmaylovskaya Bratva ( they majority of the members of these gangs are ethnic Russian or Russian Jewish)

In the USA most 'Russian Mafia' members are Ukrainian Jews, Russian Jews or Belarusian Jews.

The Caucasus gangs such as the Chechens, the Ingush and the Dagestanis ( they are active in Russia but they've also spread throughout Europe )

Armenian criminal gangs

Azerbaijani criminal gangs

Georgian Mafia which in itself can be divided into ethnic Georgian, Georgian Jewish, Ossetian, Yazidi or Abkhaz criminal gangs

Baltic gangs, mostly the Lithuanian and Estonian criminal gangs

'Aussiedler' ( a term used to describe ethnic Germans who lived in Russia for centuries but recently migrated back to Germany ) criminal gangs who are very active in Germany

Central Asian criminal gangs ( mostly of Uzbek, Uyghur, Kyrgyz, Tajik and Turkmen origins) who are associated with the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, which is really more of an organized crime syndicate than a terrorist outfit

All of these gangs are incorrectly named under the collective term 'Russian Mafia'

georgian and armenian gangs seem to be the most active worldwide
the most organized is i think the vory v zakone but i dont know how much power they really have these days among all these fractured gangs

@American Crime... thanks so much for that. I have been curious about the vors since the movie came out and have been trying to learn more about them. Much obliged!