The dashing 90s in Russia untied the hands of criminal business. The bandits did not shy away from anything: whether it was drug trafficking, racketeering or murder. After all, fabulous money was at stake.

Who is into what

Banditry flourished in Russia back in the perestroika period, however, Soviet organized criminal groups were noticeably constrained in their actions, mostly engaged in “protection” of underground entrepreneurs, robbing passers-by or stealing social property. At the same time, it was these groups that became the soil that nurtured the ruthless and cynical criminals of the nineties. Some of them will fall into the ground, and someone will break into authority, occupying the chair of an official, or being a shareholder of a large company.

But still, most members of the organized crime group fed themselves and their families in more traditional ways: "protection", money laundering, fraud, racketeering, robbery, pimping, contract killings. After all, it was possible to receive considerable income from this kind of business.

Thus, the “Volgovskaya” criminal gang, one of the largest in the country, created by the natives of Tolyatti, was engaged in the resale of stolen parts from the local VAZ automobile plant. Over time, under the control of organized crime groups were half of the shipment of cars of the enterprise and dozens of dealer companies, from which the "Volgovskie" had an income of over 400 million dollars a year.

No less large-scale was the criminal activity of the "Solntsevskaya" organized criminal group. She owned the Solntsevo car market, a third of the district's entertainment establishments, as well as taxi services in Vnukovo, Sheremetyevo-2 and at the Kiev railway station. One of the sources of profit for the "Solntsevskaya" was the Gorbushka market, which they shared with the "Izmailovsky". From one seller, the bandits received from 300 to 1000 dollars a month.

Bottoms

Each criminal gang had a strict hierarchy, on which the redistribution of income depended. At the bottom of the criminal chain was usually a youth gang. Her “pawns” are high school students aged 15–16 (“boys”) who collected tribute from their peers or younger students. These were either requisitions for a "roof", or an elementary robbery. Monthly "contributions" from each student in terms of modern money ranged from 200 to 500 rubles. The "boys" left almost nothing for themselves, they transferred the main amount up the hierarchical chain.

The next link in the organized crime group were the "boys", whose age ranged from 16 to 25 years. It was the strike force of the gangs, carrying out the orders of the "seniors", ranging from the "protection" of schoolchildren and security functions, ending with the sale of soft drugs and street battles for the territory. Often they were trusted to participate in racketeering and murders. Based on the words of a former member of the Bauman group (Moscow), one "kid" monthly brought an organized crime group in the region of 4-5 thousand rubles in terms of current money. Each even a small grouping of such suppliers had from a hundred to a thousand.

Above the "boys" were "foremen" who controlled and coordinated the activities of youth gangs. Their age, as a rule, ranged from 22 to 30 years. It was they who decided who to "protect", where to rob and how much one or another member of the gang would pay in the "common fund". In submission to the "brigadiers" were from 50 to 400 "boys". The leaders of the youth gangs accumulated all the incoming funds, they kept no more than 7% for themselves, the rest was passed on to the top.

Tops

The basis of the upper part of the organized crime group was the so-called "fighters". They no longer transferred money to the "common fund", but were kept by criminal "authorities". In terms of modern prices they earned from 70 to 200 thousand rubles a month. Additional income"fighters" had from the stolen property: cars, luxury furniture, imported equipment, jewelry.

The core of the criminal groups was a group of 30-50 people who can be called "managers". It was he who was engaged in the planning of all operations and the leadership of the "fighters". Often, "managers" could be found on the board of directors of "roofed" firms. By modern standards, their income was 600-800 thousand rubles a month.

Gang leaders - "authorities" tried to stay in the background. In one organized crime group, their number did not exceed 5-7 people. As a rule, they made collective decisions concerning the vital issues of the group's activities. Up to several million dollars could get into the pockets of "authorities" every month, but they also paid a high price for this, since they were the main target for competing gangs.

Items of income

Criminal gangs of the 90s often had several main sources of income. The first is the "common fund": funds that were brought by the younger members of the gang. About 200 - 800 thousand dollars “ran up” per month. The "obshchak" was mainly formed thanks to the funds received as a result of proceeds from petty extortion, theft or theft of a car.

The second item of replenishment of the criminal budget is, as a rule, the planned activities of organized crime groups: racketeering of small and medium-sized businesses, participation in the privatization and corporatization of factories, contract killings and bank robberies. All this brought the gang from 2 to 5 million dollars a month.

The third source of income is prostitution, drug trafficking, weapons and gambling. Monthly this item of income gave from 3 to 9 million dollars. It should be noted that pimping was not honored by criminal communities. The “shameful” business was carried out either by small organized crime groups, or by those who were stranded.

The last and fattest source of income is the participation of the top organized crime groups in legal business as investors or shareholders, including the creation of their own business. Most often these are markets, shops, car dealerships and casinos. The amount of income here depended on the scale of the enterprise and could reach several tens of millions of dollars per month.

Murder for Hire

Contract killings can be called a separate source of income, or, as Lieutenant Colonel of the Criminal Investigation Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia Igor Shutov calls them, murders committed for hire. Most often, according to an employee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, they were killed because of cars, apartments and money in the account. However, high-profile contract killings, as a rule, were aimed at intimidation or revenge.

Kill-for-hire rates varied widely. So, the killer of the Kazan group "Zhilka" Alexei Snezhinsky told how "some serious people" turned to him and offered to organize the murder of the conditional "Sasha the bandit" for 10 thousand dollars. Snezhinsky himself acted as the organizer of the murder, taking 8 thousand dollars for himself, paying the performer 2 thousand. According to the killer, up to 50 thousand dollars could be requested for a more serious case.

In Moscow, according to the statements of former members of the organized criminal group, the highest rates were for the murder - an average of 25 thousand dollars. It cost much more to order a well-known "media" figure. So the investigation found that only the advance payment for the murder of journalist Anna Politkovskaya (although it was committed after the era of the 90s) cost the customer 150 thousand dollars.

The dashing 90s in Russia untied the hands of criminal business. The bandits did not shy away from anything: whether it was drug trafficking, racketeering or murder. After all, fabulous money was at stake.

Who is into what

Banditry flourished in Russia back in the perestroika period, however, Soviet organized criminal groups were noticeably constrained in their actions, mostly engaged in “protection” of underground entrepreneurs, robbing passers-by or stealing social property. At the same time, it was these groups that became the soil that nurtured the ruthless and cynical criminals of the nineties. Some of them will fall into the ground, and someone will break into authority, occupying the chair of an official, or being a shareholder of a large company.

But still, most members of the organized crime group fed themselves and their families in more traditional ways: "protection", money laundering, fraud, racketeering, robbery, pimping, contract killings. After all, it was possible to receive considerable income from this kind of business.

Thus, the “Volgovskaya” criminal gang, one of the largest in the country, created by the natives of Tolyatti, was engaged in the resale of stolen parts from the local VAZ automobile plant. Over time, under the control of organized crime groups were half of the shipment of cars of the enterprise and dozens of dealer companies, from which the "Volgovskie" had an income of over 400 million dollars a year.

No less large-scale was the criminal activity of the "Solntsevskaya" organized criminal group. She owned the Solntsevo car market, a third of the district's entertainment establishments, as well as taxi services in Vnukovo, Sheremetyevo-2 and at the Kiev railway station. One of the sources of profit for the "Solntsevskaya" was the Gorbushka market, which they shared with the "Izmailovsky". From one seller, the bandits received from 300 to 1000 dollars a month.

Bottoms

Each criminal gang had a strict hierarchy, on which the redistribution of income depended. At the bottom of the criminal chain was usually a youth gang. Her “pawns” are high school students aged 15–16 (“boys”) who collected tribute from their peers or younger students. These were either requisitions for a "roof", or an elementary robbery. Monthly "contributions" from each student in terms of modern money ranged from 200 to 500 rubles. The "boys" left almost nothing for themselves, they transferred the main amount up the hierarchical chain.

The next link in the organized crime group were the "boys", whose age ranged from 16 to 25 years. It was the strike force of the gangs, carrying out the orders of the "seniors", ranging from the "protection" of schoolchildren and security functions, ending with the sale of soft drugs and street battles for the territory. Often they were trusted to participate in racketeering and murders. Based on the words of a former member of the Bauman group (Moscow), one "kid" monthly brought an organized crime group in the region of 4-5 thousand rubles in terms of current money. Each even a small grouping of such suppliers had from a hundred to a thousand.

Above the "boys" were "foremen" who controlled and coordinated the activities of youth gangs. Their age, as a rule, ranged from 22 to 30 years. It was they who decided who to "protect", where to rob and how much one or another member of the gang would pay in the "common fund". In submission to the "brigadiers" were from 50 to 400 "boys". The leaders of the youth gangs accumulated all the incoming funds, they kept no more than 7% for themselves, the rest was passed on to the top.

Tops

The basis of the upper part of the organized crime group was the so-called "fighters". They no longer transferred money to the "common fund", but were kept by criminal "authorities". In terms of modern prices, they earned from 70 to 200 thousand rubles a month. The "fighters" had additional income from the stolen property: cars, luxury furniture, imported equipment, jewelry.

The core of the criminal groups was a group of 30-50 people who can be called "managers". It was he who was engaged in the planning of all operations and the leadership of the "fighters". Often, "managers" could be found on the board of directors of "roofed" firms. By modern standards, their income was 600-800 thousand rubles a month.

Gang leaders - "authorities" tried to stay in the background. In one organized crime group, their number did not exceed 5-7 people. As a rule, they made collective decisions concerning the vital issues of the group's activities. Up to several million dollars could get into the pockets of "authorities" every month, but they also paid a high price for this, since they were the main target for competing gangs.

Items of income

Criminal gangs of the 90s often had several main sources of income. The first is the "common fund": funds that were brought by the younger members of the gang. About 200 - 800 thousand dollars “ran up” per month. The "obshchak" was mainly formed thanks to the funds received as a result of proceeds from petty extortion, theft or theft of a car.

The second item of replenishment of the criminal budget is, as a rule, the planned activities of organized crime groups: racketeering of small and medium-sized businesses, participation in the privatization and corporatization of factories, contract killings and bank robberies. All this brought the gang from 2 to 5 million dollars a month.

The third source of income is prostitution, drug trafficking, weapons and gambling. Monthly this item of income gave from 3 to 9 million dollars. It should be noted that pimping was not honored by criminal communities. The “shameful” business was carried out either by small organized crime groups, or by those who were stranded.

The last and fattest source of income is the participation of the top organized crime groups in legal business as investors or shareholders, including the creation of their own business. Most often these are markets, shops, car dealerships and casinos. The amount of income here depended on the scale of the enterprise and could reach several tens of millions of dollars per month.

Murder for Hire

Contract killings can be called a separate source of income, or, as Lieutenant Colonel of the Criminal Investigation Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia Igor Shutov calls them, murders committed for hire. Most often, according to an employee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, they were killed because of cars, apartments and money in the account. However, high-profile contract killings, as a rule, were aimed at intimidation or revenge.

Kill-for-hire rates varied widely. So, the killer of the Kazan group "Zhilka" Alexei Snezhinsky told how "some serious people" turned to him and offered to organize the murder of the conditional "Sasha the bandit" for 10 thousand dollars. Snezhinsky himself acted as the organizer of the murder, taking 8 thousand dollars for himself, paying the performer 2 thousand. According to the killer, up to 50 thousand dollars could be requested for a more serious case.

In Moscow, according to the statements of former members of the organized criminal group, the highest rates were for the murder - an average of 25 thousand dollars. It cost much more to order a well-known "media" figure. So the investigation found that only the advance payment for the murder of journalist Anna Politkovskaya (although it was committed after the era of the 90s) cost the customer 150 thousand dollars.

We remember the 90s for high-profile murders, which at that time were in the usual way fight against competitors and enemies. Let's remember the sensational murders and assassinations of those years, some of which remain unsolved to this day. Beware, the post contains photos not for impressionable people.

On September 13, 1994, near the house number 46 on 3rd Tverskaya-Yamskaya Street, a Mercedes-Benz 600SEC was blown up, in which there was a crime boss Sergei Timofeev, nicknamed Sylvester. According to operational data, the mass of a TNT charge attached by a magnet to the bottom of the car (presumably at a car wash) was 400 grams. The explosive device went off as soon as Sylvester got into the car and started talking on cell phone; the body of the device was thrown 11 meters by the blast wave.

On that day, Timofeev was guarded by 19 people, but for some reason he ended up in the car alone. There is still no answer to the question of who exactly is behind the death of Sylvester: Timofeev was called the king of the underworld of Moscow, and he had enough enemies. Meanwhile, there is a version according to which there was another person in the blown up Mercedes, and Sylvester fled abroad with a huge amount of money. In any case, everyone who identified his body suddenly and dramatically became rich.

Body of entrepreneur Otari Kvantrishvili

Otari Kvantrishvili was unique figure for Moscow in the 90s: he could not be called a bandit, but Otari's word in criminal circles was decisive. He was not a thief in law, but he was his everywhere. A major philanthropist, chairman of the Lev Yashin Foundation, Kvantrishvili successfully communicated with both criminals and government officials. His friends were police generals, members of the government, deputies, famous artists and athletes. It is not surprising that Kvantrishvili was eager for politics and appeared on Moscow television almost daily.

At some point, Kvantrishvili became a serious competitor to the powerful Sylvester, who did not put up with this. In addition, Sergei Timofeev was interested in the oil business, and he and Kvantrishvili had a stumbling block in this area - an oil refinery in Tuapse. As a result, on April 5, 1994, at the exit from the Krasnopresnensky baths, Kvantrishvili was killed by three shots from sniper rifle. This crime was solved only 12 years later. The order was executed by the famous killer of the Orekhovo-Medvedkovo organized crime community Alexey Sherstobitov (Lesha Soldat).

The blown-up Mercedes of oligarch Boris Berezovsky

In 1994, the organization of the oligarch Boris Berezovsky "Automobile Russian Alliance" placed a lot of money in the "Moscow Trade Bank", which was headed by the wife of Sergei Timofeev Olga Zhlobinskaya. However, the bank was in no hurry to part with the money, and Zhlobinskaya and Berezovsky had a conflict.

On June 7, 1994, an explosion occurred near the house number 40 on Novokuznetskaya Street in Moscow, where the Logovaz reception house was located. The bomb was set off when Berezovsky's Mercedes was driving out of the gates of the reception house. The driver was killed, a security guard and eight bystanders were injured, but the oligarch survived. Few people familiar with the situation around the Moscow Trade Bank doubted who was behind the assassination attempt on Berezovsky.

The body of the journalist, TV presenter and general director of ORT Vlad Listyev

On March 1, 1995, a TV presenter and journalist, the first CEO ORT Vladislav Listyev. The killer ambushed Listyev at about 21:10 at the entrance of the house on Novokuznetskaya Street, when the journalist was returning from the filming of the Rush Hour program. One of the bullets hit the TV presenter in the hand, the second - in the head.

Investigators found valuables and a large amount of cash with the deceased, and therefore suggested that the murder of Listyev was connected with his business or political activities. Despite repeated statements law enforcement that the case is close to being solved, neither the killer nor the customers have yet been found.

Murder site of politician and human rights activist Galina Starovoitova

On the evening of November 20, 1998, politician Galina Starovoitova, a deputy State Duma and co-chairman of the Democratic Russia party. The killers ambushed 52-year-old Starovoitova and her 27-year-old assistant Ruslan Linkov at the entrance of the house on the embankment of the Griboyedov Canal, where Starovoitova lived.

Starovoitova and Linkov were shot with an Agram 2000 submachine gun and a makeshift copy of a Beretta pistol. Starovoitova died at the scene from two gunshot wounds. Linkov received two severe gunshot wounds - in the spine and in the head, but survived.

On June 30, 2005, the city court of St. Petersburg sentenced the participants in the murder - Yuri Kolchin (as the organizer) and Vitaly Akinshin (as the perpetrator) - to 20 and 23.5 years in a strict regime colony, respectively. Another perpetrator of the assassination, Oleg Fedosov, disappeared without a trace. On August 28, 2015, the Oktyabrsky District Court of St. Petersburg recognized former State Duma deputy Mikhail Glushchenko as an accomplice in organizing the murder of Galina Starovoitova and sentenced him to 17 years in prison in a strict regime colony and a fine of 300 thousand rubles. The assassin has not yet been identified.

The shot "Volvo" of the vice-governor of St. Petersburg Mikhail Manevich

On August 18, 1997, at 8:50 am, the official Volvo car, in which the Vice-Governor of St. Petersburg Mikhail Manevich (in the front seat), his wife (in the back seat) and the driver, slowed down, leaving Rubinshteina Street on Nevsky avenue. At this time, they started shooting from the attic of the house on the opposite side.

Manevich was wounded by five bullets in the neck and chest, he died on the way to the hospital; his wife was slightly injured. The killer fled, leaving a Yugoslav-made Kalashnikov assault rifle with a telescopic sight in the attic. The murder of Mikhail Manevich has not yet been solved.

The site of the explosion of a booby trap in the editorial office of the newspaper "Moskovsky Komsomolets"

On October 17, 1994, MK journalist Dmitry Kholodov died in Moscow at his workplace from the explosion of a makeshift booby trap in his briefcase. Kholodov's death was due to traumatic shock and blood loss.

Colleagues of the deceased said that the journalist hoped to find documents on the illegal arms trade with Chechen separatists in the diplomat handed over to him through the storage room at the Kazansky railway station. Kholodov became famous for his publications on corruption in Russian army; the journalist constantly criticized Defense Minister Pavel Grachev. Kholodov's murder has not yet been solved.

Body of Priest Alexander Men

Archpriest of Russia Orthodox Church, theologian and preacher Alexander Men was killed on the morning of September 9, 1990 on his way to the church for the liturgy. According to some reports, the picture of the murder looked like this: an unknown person ran up to the priest and handed him a note. Men took his glasses out of his pocket and began to read.

At this time, another man jumped out of the bushes, who violently hit the priest from behind with either an ax or a sapper's shovel. Losing strength, Father Alexander reached his house near the Semkhoz platform in the Zagorsk (now Sergiev Posad) district of the Moscow region. He reached the gate and fell; doctors later pronounced him dead from blood loss. The murder of the priest has not yet been solved.

Exploded "Volvo" of the Deputy of the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg Viktor Novoselov

On October 20, 1999, Viktor Novoselov, a member of the city parliament, was killed in the center of St. Petersburg. The official Volvo of the deputy stopped at a traffic light at the intersection of Moskovsky Prospekt and Frunze Street. At that moment, a killer ran up to the car and attached a small magnetic bomb to the roof of the Volvo. When he ran away, an explosion thundered, as a result of which Viktor Novoselov died on the spot.

This was not the first assassination attempt on a politician: they tried to kill him in 1993, after which Novoselov became disabled and moved in a wheelchair. Before his death, the deputy was considered the main contender for the post of head of the parliament of St. Petersburg. A few years later, members of a St. Petersburg gang of killers led by Oleg Tarasov were convicted of carrying out and organizing the murder of Novoselov. The perpetrators of the crime could not be identified.

The body of Major Dmitry Ogorodnikov

On May 22, 2000, the legendary fighter against organized crime, Major Dmitry Ogorodnikov, was killed in Tolyatti. The killers in a car caught up with the policeman when he was taxiing to the Southern Highway in his white "ten". The killers overtook Ogorodnikov's car in the old "five" and opened heavy fire from a pistol and machine gun.

The major, who survived several assassination attempts, was hit by more than 30 bullets - he died on the spot. The liquidators managed to escape, but later they answered for their crime. The driver and one of the killers received life sentences, the second killer and customer of the crime, Yevgeny Sovkov, nicknamed Scoop, disappeared in a gang war.

At the present time, many participants have been released from prisons. Little is known about their future plans. Perhaps someone will settle down in the wild, someone will again be engaged in a craft that is not solid in our time - extortion, murder. Others may come out for more high level crimes. Someone will get a job.

Rustam Ismalov, one of the foremen of the Kazan criminal community, served his term back in 2011 after serving 16 years for the murder of a businessman. During these years of prison, his former associates warmed up well from the outside. But seven years ago, Rustam's brigade completely ceased to exist - some were imprisoned, others were killed, and others are wanted. And the former authority of the group did not have people left at will who can be trusted and where you can return. He left and no one met him. His brigade has sunk into oblivion.

One of the leaders of the Novokuznetsk gang, Shkabara Barybin, was also released. And his gang - also no longer exists. But he has his own story. Shkabara was met by the Izmailovo authorities, who did not lose contact with him in the zone. You need to have these people with you. Therefore, Izmailovites greeted him in three foreign cars and took him away with them.

Oleg Buryat was also met by representatives of a foreign brigade, since his own had already broken up a long time ago. But those who met Buryat were competitors at one time, and for the attempt on their leader, he shook the term. So the authority was met by one of the Chelyabinsk groups, and taken away in an unknown direction. Nobody saw Buryat after that.

Kurgan resident Vitaly Mosyakov, who was a member of the Kurgan criminal group that made a lot of noise, did not return to crime after his release from prison in 2012. He got a job at a service station in one of the small towns, rents an apartment.
Another of the Kurgan residents, Pyotr Zaitsev, served 6 years and was released on parole. But in the wild he got a job in one of the security firms, and again took up extortion. Now he is under investigation.

The most interesting character is probably Vitya Kostroma. In the late 80s, he led a gang that extorted money from cooperators. Later, in the early 90s, realizing that he could not be taken out alone in Moscow, he joined. And in 1992 he killed a man out of jealousy for his wife. That is, his term was not related to the main criminal activity. So to speak, he fell asleep on the bytovuhe. The court gave him 25 years. Of these, he served 24, and this year he was released as a sick and useless person.