They whack him here, they whack him there… The Azeri Pimpernel

I think it fair to say that Rovshan Janiev is less dashing

I think it fair to say that Rovshan Janiev is less dashing

It is as much as anything else a sign of the pressures in the Russian underworld and the lack of clarity in what will follow the murder of Aslan Usoyan (‘Ded Khasan’) that one of the potential instigators of the attack, Rovshan Janiev (‘Rovshan Lenkoransky’) is various reported killed in Moscow, killed in Turkey, detained in Baku and, according to his brother, alive and well in Dubai…

As of writing, I don’t know which of these is true, if any. Thanks to a conversation with someone in Moscow who I feel would know, I feel fairly confident that he was briefly arrested in Baku, as much as anything else as a warning to scale down his leadership campaign within the ‘mountaineer’ (Caucasus) underworld community. There seems to be a growing body of reports in the Russian press about his death in Turkey, but these could easily simply be feeding off each other. That said, he is an ambitious man, a destabilizing force, and as a result has many enemies over and above Dmitry Chanturia (‘Miron’), Usoyan’s heir. Following the murder of his lieutenants Astamur Gulia (‘Astik Sukhumski’) in Abkhazia and Rufat Nasibov (‘Rufo’) in Moscow, Janiev may well be a tempting target.

We’ll see. However, worth noting at this point is the dog that isn’t barking: the ethnic Russian and Slavic gangs who make up the majority of the Russian underworld and who are presumably happy to see their southern rivals tearing each other apart, and the Chechens, who while ‘mountaineers’ essentially keep themselves apart from the others. They could be a force for stability, preventing the mob war from escalating, or they could seek to capitalize on it by making land grabs of their own, further ratcheting up the tension…

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by Mark Galeotti on February 6, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Crime, North Caucasus, Organized Crime - Russia, Organized Crime - Transnational, Security
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Posted by Mark Galeotti on February 6, 2013

https://inmoscowsshadows.wordpress.com/2013/02/06/they-whack-him-here-they-whack-him-there-the-azeri-pimpernel/

Rovshan Janiev’s arrest in Baku: efforts to avert a mob war?

Rovshan behind bars again

Rovshan behind bars again

Dmitry Chanturia (‘Miron’ or ‘Miron Yaroslavsky’), the new head of Aslan Usoyan’s criminal network, seems to believe that the Azeri gangster Rovshan Janiev (‘Rovshan Lenkoranskiy’) is responsible for his uncle’s murder. As I’ve written elsewhere, it may be his genuine belief, or simply because Janiev is a more politically-palatable and practical target than the more likely culprit, Tariel Oniani (‘Taro’). Either way, there is likely to have been a connection to the recent murder of Janiev’s ally  Astamur Gulia (‘Astik Sukhumski’) in Abkhazia.

Many of the grandees of the Russian underworld are keenly aware of the many dangers which could follow if a new mob war erupts, from the way it would spread to the likelihood that it may force the state to crack down. They have been trying to negotiate a truce of sorts. However, the Russian state is also keen to avert any such catastrophic collapse of the present cold peace within the underworld. This was probably one of the reasons for the unusual decision to break up a gathering of bosses from the Oniani network when they sat down at a restaurant in Nikolina Gora, west of Moscow. The 23 mobsters were duly released after being detained, but the key thing was this this breach of the usual cop-godfather etiquette was likely a signal that they were being watched and their intent — to plan how they would capitalize on the murder ‘Ded Hasan’ — was one on which the authorities frowned.

I cannot help but suspect that a similar motive may be behind Janiev’s unexpected arrest in Baku on 28 January, when he flew in for a birthday celebration. Whether or not Janiev ends up being charged in Azerbaijan, let alone convicted, may to an extent be beside the point. Janiev clearly did not expect arrest and normally he would probably have been safe. However, were Moscow eager to make a point and damp down the potential embers of a criminal conflagration, persuading the Azeri authorities to give him a warning but also to take him off the streets might well be a useful step…

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by Mark Galeotti on January 30, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Organized Crime - Russia, Organized Crime - Transnational, Security
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Posted by Mark Galeotti on January 30, 2013

https://inmoscowsshadows.wordpress.com/2013/01/30/rovshan-janievs-arrest-in-baku-efforts-to-avert-a-mob-war/

Sergei Shoigu: Russia’s tailor-in-chief?

They certainly look the part of the 21st century men at arms

They certainly look the part of the 21st century men at arms

Sergei Shoigu’s early initiatives as defense minister all seem to have a distinctly sartorial bent. First, he decreed that the traditional portyanki foot cloths wrapped around the foot every morning, washed and hung up to dry at night, be fully replaced by socks by the end of 2013. Then it was bruited around that the traditional — indeed, iconic — ushanka fur hat with side-flaps would be phased out and replaced with new headgear. Then we have confirmation that a new set of field uniforms including these changes would indeed be issued, with 100,000 soldiers getting them this year (earlier this year it was just 70,000), the rest in 2014.

It is easy to belittle such moves. Efficient and comfortable uniforms rank with decent housing, adequate food and proper medical care amongst the kinds of quality-of-life issues taken for granted in most Western militaries yet contributing to the terrible reputation of army service in Russia (and hence recruitment of volunteers). It is also in line with the kinds of reforms Serdyukov had been trying to introduce. After all, he had wanted to phase out the portyanki and introduce new, better uniforms.

The full array of new Russian uniforms, to be phased in from 2013

The full array of new Russian uniforms, to be phased in from 2013

However, there is much more to being defense minister than being tailor-in-chief, and the initial omens about Shoigu’s priorities are less inspiring. After Serdyukov had spent much political capital cutting down the bloated, top-heavy officer corps, it seems that the army, navy and air force command staffs will be increased fully 2-3 times. However much this is spun as a measure to improve training and coordination, it is a victory for the top brass and a step away from creating a leaner military.

Furthermore, the notion of importing better foreign-made equipment seems out of favor, with the decision to scale back purchase of Italian LMV65 light armored vehicles and new criticism of the French Mistral deal. Regardless of the qualities of these particular deals, trying for military autarky makes absolutely no sense in terms of military reform (Dmitry Gorenburg has some astute comments on this on his blog). The only people it pleases are the defense-industrial complex industrialists, who became such an enemy of Serdyukov’s.

In other words, for the moment Shoigu seems either to be playing it safe or else lacks the political muscle to take on the two conservative lobbies — the generals and the ‘metal-eaters’ — whose interests are actually antithetical to proper military reform. He may be biding his time, but for the moment he seems content to be tailor-in-chief. Maybe because he’s already window-shopping for the kind of suit fit for a prime minister. Or even a president?

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by Mark Galeotti on January 27, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Military - Russia, Russian Politics, Security
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Posted by Mark Galeotti on January 27, 2013

https://inmoscowsshadows.wordpress.com/2013/01/27/sergei-shoigu-russias-tailor-in-chief/

Has a new Russian Mob War started in Abkhazia?

Hasta la vista, Hasan

Hasta la vista, Hasan

Could the murder of a no-more-than-moderately infamous local gangster in Abkhazia, Astamur Gulia, ‘Astik Sukhumski,’ mark the start of a wider gang war following the murder of Aslan Usoyan, ‘Ded Khasan’? Usoyan’s death inevitably sent shock waves through an underworld already in a degree of turmoil. The long-running feud between Usoyan and Tariel Oniani (‘Taro’), the hungry encroachments of Rovshan Janiyev (‘Rovshan Lenkoranskiy’) for dominance over the Caucasus gangsters, new disagreements with Zakhar Kalashov (‘Shakhro Junior’), sparked by rows over the distribution and management of his assets after he was arrested in Spain in 2006, all these helped ensure that the ‘mountaineers’ — the gangs from the North and South Caucasus — were increasingly at daggers’ drawn. However, it’s important to realize that for all the airtime they get, the ‘mountaineers’ do not comprise the majority of Russian organized crime and the extent to which there are wider, economic and political pressures also bearing down on the status quo that has held for the past decade.

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by Mark Galeotti on January 21, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Chechnya, Crime, North Caucasus, Organized Crime - Russia, Organized Crime - Transnational
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Posted by Mark Galeotti on January 21, 2013

https://inmoscowsshadows.wordpress.com/2013/01/21/has-a-new-russian-mob-war-started-in-abkhazia/

Ded Dead: the assassination of Russian crime boss Aslan Usoyan (‘Ded Khasan’)

This time, Ded is dead

This time, Ded is dead

News is just breaking that Russian (actually Kurdish Yezidi from Georgia) crime boss Aslan Usoyan (‘Ded Hasan’ or ‘Ded Khasan’ — ‘Grandfather Hassan’) was shot and killed last night in Moscow. Apparently a sniper took him down (some say with a head shot, but probably multiple hits) as he was leaving the Karetny Dvor restaurant on Povarskaya, known as his favored hang-out). He died in intensive care at the Botkin hospital.

While the details of the hit will emerge soon enough, the fundamentals are clear — another classic Russian mob killing, reflecting rising tensions within the national underworld as well as the prosecution of a long-running feud(s). The 75-year-old Usoyan was one of the foremost leaders within the Russian underworld, but at a time when that underworld is going through a process of realignment due to a number of forces, not least the increasing flow of Afghan heroin through the country. This was the third assassination attempt in his underworld career, after one in Sochi in 1998 and then another in Moscow in 2010. The latter was a result of his running feud with Georgian mobster Tariel Oniani (‘Taro’) who is currently in prison but still managing his extensive crime empire from behind bars. His feud with Oniani dates back at least to 2007 and has been one of the defining pressures within the Russian underworld.

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by Mark Galeotti on January 16, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Crime, MVD, Organized Crime - Russia, Organized Crime - Transnational

Posted by Mark Galeotti on January 16, 2013

https://inmoscowsshadows.wordpress.com/2013/01/16/ded-dead-the-assassination-of-russian-crime-boss-aslan-usoyan-ded-khasan/

A postscript: what is this massive Russian armada of which you speak?

russian navyJust as a peevish postscript to my last, reading some of the media one might be forgiven for thinking that Moscow had deployed some massive armada into the Med to shore up Assad (how does a naval force without air or meaningful artillery influence a counter-insurgency war?) or to intimidate the West. “16 Russian warships carrying thousands of marines” “a show of force“, etc

Let’s see just what is there, though:

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by Mark Galeotti on January 6, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Russian Politics, Security

Posted by Mark Galeotti on January 6, 2013

https://inmoscowsshadows.wordpress.com/2013/01/06/a-postscript-what-is-this-massive-russian-armada-of-which-you-speak/

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