As organised crime kingpin murders go, there is perhaps little kudos in being shot in the parking lot of a suburban big box store, but this was nonetheless the fate of Georgian-born Dato Melkadze, ‘Dato Poti.’ On the evening of 11 January, he went with his wife and children on a shopping trip to the Lerua Merlen (the French Leroy Merlin chain) store in Moscow’s Krasnogorsk neighbourhood . In the carpark he was apparently accosted by two people who claimed he owed them money; a conversation became a row; a row became an exchange of fire. Melkadze was wounded in the shoulder and abdomen by a ‘traumatic pistol’ converted to fire live ammunition and died in hospital.
Another vor down: Dato Melkadze shot dead
Posted by Mark Galeotti on January 12, 2014
https://inmoscowsshadows.wordpress.com/2014/01/12/another-vor-down-dato-melkadze-shot-dead/
Volgograd’s second bombing demonstrates terrorists’ strengths and weaknesses
Volgograd railway station, the moment the bomb explodes
The terrible spectacle–visible on CCTV footage–of the latest terrorist bombing in Volgograd is another tragedy in a blood-red litany of massacres and miseries associated with the North Caucasus. It is hardly a coincidence that as Sochi nears, so does the tempo of attacks outside the North Caucasus region itself: the Volgograd bus bombing in October, Friday’s car bomb in Pyatigorsk, now this.
Posted by Mark Galeotti on December 29, 2013
https://inmoscowsshadows.wordpress.com/2013/12/29/volgograds-second-bombing-demonstrates-terrorists-strengths-and-weaknesses/
The Other Greek Tragedy: Georgian and Russian/Eurasian organized crime
With news of the arrest in Thessaloniki of Georgian vor v zakone David Mazanashvili (“Dato Rustavsky”), a member of the same Kutaisi “clan” targeted in this summer’s Europe-wide raids under Operation Skhodka, it is worth briefly remembering that Greece, while not on quite the same scale as–until recently–the Spanish coastline or Germany, is very much an area of interest to gangsters from Russia and post-Soviet Eurasia. Although Russian gangsters were attracted there in the 1990s by the climate, not-too-intimidating law enforcement and, let’s be honest, relative ease of acquiring forged documents and local passports–most notoriously the contract killed Alexander Solonik, who was murdered there himself in 1997–increasingly the country has come within the orbit of ethnic Georgian gangsters. To some extent this reflects the 1990s influx of ethnic Greeks (Pontian Greeks), especially from Georgia , who became bridges between the two underworlds.
Posted by Mark Galeotti on December 24, 2013
https://inmoscowsshadows.wordpress.com/2013/12/24/the-other-greek-tragedy-georgian-and-russianeurasian-organized-crime/
Russia’s Strategic Rocket Forces get Typhoon-M “anti-sabotage vehicles”: do they know something we don’t?
I’m not sure whether to be reassured or alarmed that the RVSN, Russia’s Strategic Rocket Forces, have this year started receiving a special new armored vehicle, the Typhoon-M, which they describe as a “combat anti-sabotage vehicle that is used for the protection and defense of missile systems, reconnaissance and fighting the enemy’s ranger units.” So far, they have been issued to the Teikovo, Novosibirsk and Tagil RS-24 Yars missile regiments. These go to the forces of the 12th GUMO (12th Main Directorate of the Ministry of Defense), which handles physical security for the RVSN.
Posted by Mark Galeotti on December 17, 2013
https://inmoscowsshadows.wordpress.com/2013/12/17/russias-strategic-rocket-forces-get-typhoon-m-anti-sabotage-vehicles-do-they-know-something-we-dont/
Russia’s Anticorruption Campaign: Putin hopes the KGB veterans in the Presidential Admin can turn the tide
A revised and updated version of this post is up on the Russia! website, here.
Russia’s new draft Public Security Policy says that corruption ought to be considered a serious national security threat—something I’ve long argued—and also suggests that it is a growing challenge. After all,
We are seeing stable tendencies towards the merging of the interests of businesses and officials and inclusion in corruption schemes of officials and foreign businessmen.
Now, I don’t read “stable” in this passage as being a compliment, but rather meaning a continuing one, given that it is in the context of a process that is taking place, and the document admits that Read the full post »
Posted by Mark Galeotti on December 8, 2013
https://inmoscowsshadows.wordpress.com/2013/12/08/russias-anticorruption-campaign-putin-hopes-the-kgb-veterans-in-the-presidential-admin-can-turn-the-tide/
Security Forces in and close to Kiev: a preliminary tally
SBU special forces, armed and ready
I honestly have no idea what will happen in Kiev, whether the regime will fracture and crumble, whether the protests will subside, whether martial law has been declared: I am not a Ukrainian politics specialist and in any case, this is one of those situations in which I feel all bets are off and the only real question is who is the most plausible and lucky guessers amongst the assembled ranks of pundits. However, in a depressive moment, togo with my previous note on Berkut, I thought I’d quickly throw together a list of — to my knowledge, at least — the security forces available either in Kiev or close by. Of course, treat this with some caution, not least as it would be easy for the government quickly to bring in reinforcements from other police, Interior Troop and army commands. Still, I hope this list remains of no more than academic interest.
MVS Police
Central MVS assets
‘Sokil’ (Falcon) police commando unit
Kiev City Berkut Regiment – c. 450
Kiev City Berkut Regiment – c. 450
Kiev Region Berkut Regiment – c. 350?
Kiev City Police (especially its Public Order Directorate) – total force c. 11,000 cops
Cadets from the Kiev MVS Police Academy
MVS Interior Troops (VV)
Unit 3027 Bars (‘Snow Leopard’) MVS VV Special Purpose Brigade
Omega counter-terrorist company
22nd MVS VV Special Purpose Brigade
25th MVS VV Special Motorized Police Brigade
3rd MVS VV Brigade
Cadets from the MVS VV Academy
State Guard Directorate (UDO)
Some 2900 armed officers, mainly in Kiev
Titan special security unit
Security Service of Ukraine (SBU)
Security Directorate
Alfa counter-terrorist unit
Army
72nd Guards Mechanized Brigade: some 3,000 troops at Bila Tserkva, 80 km south of Kiev
Силы безопасности в и близко в Киев: предварительной оценки
Posted by Mark Galeotti on December 1, 2013
https://inmoscowsshadows.wordpress.com/2013/12/01/security-forces-in-and-close-to-kiev-a-preliminary-tally/
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