The Russian Mafia in Europe: Myth or Reality [Criminological Aspects]

This work describes the penetration & assimilation of citizens of Russia in Europe. This process has acquired the traits of steadiness & is becoming less adverse. At the same time, representatives of the criminal world who want to expand their sphere of activity follow the process of enlargement of the scope of contacts in cultural and, above all, in business domain. It is important to understand that there is the Russian mafia & there is the organized underworld consisting of Russian-speaking representatives of the countries of the former Soviet Union. These criminal organizations may either cooperate or conflict with each other. But these are different types of organized criminality. The portion of Russian criminals in Europe is large, but it is not them who rank first. There is no single approach to definition of the Russian organized criminality, in spite of the fact that the notion in question is formally spelt out in the criminal statutes of the Russian Federation. The following features are distinguished with regard to the Russian organized criminality: international membership,- joining up based on the community principle & other. It is noted that officers of law enforcement agencies have underestimated the level of jeopardy that the Russian mafia constitutes & do not turn out to be prepared for its wide spread occurrence. In conclusion, the definition of the Russian mafia is given. Adapted from the source document.