All of a sudden, Russia seems like it is no country for old criminals, as the war in Ukraine is triggering a war on crime bosses back home. This is a desperate bid by the Kremlin to forestall a new era of gangster turf wars reminiscent of the wild 1990s, when car bombings and drive-by shootings were a regular part of Moscow life.
Given that one of the foundations of Vladimir Putin’s legitimacy as president is his claim that he tamed the gangs, this is a major political, not just criminal, issue.
Last week, a Moscow court ordered the arrest in absentia of Vyacheslav Shestakov, better known by his nickname “Sliva”. Although Shestakov, 69, now lives in Spain, he was one of the leaders of Russia’s notorious Lyubertsy organised crime group back in the 2000s.
Shorts
The court order was just the latest in a series of cases launched against underworld kingpins of previous decades, reflecting the Kremlin’s growing fears about an explosion in criminal violence in Russia in the near future.
