https://en.crimerussia.com/organize...f-organized-criminal-group-zakonovskiye/

FSB finds hideout with weapon of leader of organized criminal group Zakonovskiye

https://en.crimerussia.com/criminal...awyer-denies-criminal-hierarchy-charges/

"Those are all evil tongues, Internet and cops." Shishkan’s lawyer denies criminal hierarchy charges

https://en.crimerussia.com/criminal...endant-in-case-under-new-anti-mafia-law/

Mafia boss Tsyrkach to become defendant in case under new “anti-mafia” law

https://en.crimerussia.com/organize...-group-loses-eye-during-rough-detention/

Primorye: MMA fighter and leader of organised crime group loses eye during rough detention

https://en.crimerussia.com/criminalauthorities/the-press-buried-mafia-boss-petrik/

The press "buried" mafia boss Petrik

https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-prob...-opposition-leader-navalny/30090680.html

Russia Probes Alleged Money Laundering By Opposition Leader Navalny

https://en.crimerussia.com/organizedcrime/russian-court-arrests-moldova-s-richest-man-/

Russian court arrests Moldova's richest man

https://buzzon.live/13962-in-krakow...the-illegal-market-of-cigarettes-photos/

In Krakow, Poland more than 20 Chechens and Armenians are arrested before a conflict.

In other articles it is said that this group wanted to settle beef with football hooligans from Cracovia club over illegal cigarette trade in Krakow and nearby cities.

What’s the status of the Russian mafia in USA? What are they into, who’s in charge and is Brooklyn the main area they operate?

Last info that I've got was that in New York mainly operated brigades with ties to Solntsevskaya and Izmailovskaya, this was from a guy who did time in US who I know personally. Then of course the latest are the Georgians from Razhden Shulayawhich were brought down. Shulaya got 45 years if I remember right. Then there was another brigade which leader is Aleksei Tsvetkov, but he is prison as well now.
They're into everything that they can earn from. Very rarely, you will come across groups which are into only one thing. And these groups probably will be either car jackers or credit card fraudsters in most cases.
I doubt there is one person in charge. Mostly the groups which are under Thieves in Law, will answer to them, but there's not one main leader in this group.
I would say they operate in a lot of areas. Brooklyn might be as the main area in the 70's till 90's. But there's lots of other groups in other states in US, like Florida, California, New Jersey, etc.

Can anyone recommend any books about the Russian Mafia worth reading? Thanks

The Vory by Mark Galeotti
Red Mafiya by Robert I. Friedman (RIP)

Ty Hollander and thepolakvet for your respnses

They have a presence in the US, but they make more money in Western Europe. Mogilevich still appears on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list.

Europe is booming now from Russian and other ethnic groups from ex-USSR countries. Georgians, Chechens and Armenians are the top groups that are known currently in Europe. Then there comes Russians from Baltic countries and also very known are Lithuanian groups, especially in car theft sphere.
Wasn't Mogilevich removed from that list in 2015?

You're right the FBI excluded Semion Mogilevich from its search register, as it became known that he resided in Russia and he can not be extradited.

Don't know if anybody ever saw the little table on the link below. It shows the background of the Vors in the "Russian" underworld. It also features a link to a Vor database. Don't know how much of it is accurate nowadays though;

http://www.unz.com/akarlin/how-russian-is-the-russian-mafia/

The biggest Vor suppliers seem to be:

Georgians: a whopping 242 vors
Russians: 53 vors
Armenians: 30 vors
Yezidis (mostly from Georgia and Armenia): 26 vors - which is disproportionate seeing their community only numbers about 150000 in the former USSR
Azerbaijanis: 16 vors
Chechens: 9 vors
Abkhazians (though most of those seem to be of ethnic Georgian origin as well): 9 vors
Jews (often from Ukraine): 7 vors

http://www.primecrime.ru/ is actually a better source for Vor database, they have list of current and old Vory and also known events between them, making timelines, etc.. Sadly, it's only in Russian, but you can use the browser translator option is you use Chrome.

FOUR GEORGIANS ARRESTED OVER CASINO ROULETTE SCAM
By Zack Newmark on November 7, 2019 - 15:10

Police in Venlo arrested four men accused of ripping off the Holland Casino location there. The suspects were also persons of interest in similar crimes investigated by Interpol, and may have targeted other casinos in Europe including in the Netherlands.

Officers said the suspects tried to manipulate the results of an automatic roulette machine by first breaking the lid, then lifting the glass off the game. “After that, the ball was probably stopped in the ‘right’ box after which it registered a ‘win,’” police said in a statement.

“A large sum of money was seized from the suspects, as well as uncashed vouchers that they had ‘won.’”

All four suspects are from the nation of Georgia. Through the course of the investigation, police said they discovered that the crew may have hit other locations in the Netherlands and in Europe. They had also drawn the attention of international policing organization Interpol.

The Dutch police said they work with their counterparts in other countries, as well as Interpol and Europe to tackle mobile banditry, a term used for international criminal groups that work across borders. The suspected crews are often linked to burglaries, thefts, pickpocketing, and fraud.

“Today, the crooks bet at the wrong casino and outbid themselves. The ‘house’ has won, and to speak in Monopoly terms, the crooks have drawn the ‘Go Directly to Jail,’ card,” police said in a tongue-in-cheek statement.

https://nltimes.nl/2019/11/07/four-georgians-arrested-casino-roulette-scam

Very nice. Thank you, Polak.

Power in Russian criminal world may go to Chechen “thieves in law”

https://en.crimerussia.com/criminal...-world-may-go-to-chechen-thieves-in-law/

Major drug busts suggest Russia is becoming a hub for cocaine heading to Europe

https://www.businessinsider.com/maj...caine-transit-point-2023-4?r=US&IR=T

They should say Georgian instead of Russian.

Alleged 'Russian mafia associate' arrested in Saskatoon served time in Ohio prison for visa fraud
Alexander Alexidze deported to Canada in 2016

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatoon/russian-mafia-associate-arrested-1.6856286?cmp=rss

Was Maksim Kuzminov killed on Kremlin's orders? Spanish cops probe theory Russian mafia and Moscow spy played role in Benidorm assassination of helicopter pilot who defected to Ukraine

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13105525/Maksim-Kuzminov-killed-Russia-mafia-spy-Spain.html

He was protected by the military intelligence service of the Ukrainian government, that they found out his whereabouts shows the service made mistakes.

Intelligence experts are sounding alarms over what appears to be a shift in Moscow's modus operandi. High-profile cases, such as the poisonings of Alexander Litvinenko and Sergei Skripal, no longer stand as outliers but as part of a broader, more aggressive strategy. This strategy, emboldened perhaps by the invasion of Ukraine, signals a Russia ready to deal with its defectors not in the shadows, but in the light of day, using methods that leave no doubt as to their origin.

What's particularly alarming is the choice of tools for these dark deeds. The use of distinctive Russian ammunition and poisons doesn't just ensure the job is done; it sends a clear, chilling message of intimidation and retribution. This audacity suggests a Kremlin that, far from fearing a diplomatic backlash, seems to revel in it, leveraging organized crime networks for plausible deniability even as it makes its involvement unmistakably clear.

https://bnnbreaking.com/world/europe/shadow-war-kremlins-assassins-extend-their-reach-across-europe

"Crime boss Shakro Kalashov released in Russia for use in Georgia's October elections" - Mikheil Saakashvili
JAMnews
Tbilisi

https://jam-news.net/shakro-kalashov-and-mikheil-saakashvili/