Mafia Members Become Patriots: How Ukraine’s War Affected Organized Crime

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“The vast majority of Ukrainian criminals have sided with Ukraine,” says Kirim (59). He, whose real name is different, sits in a café in the Ukrainian port city of Odessa and smokes while talking about the consequences of the war for the Russian-Ukrainian mafia. Kirim knows the criminal environment, he is a smuggler himself.

“But there are also those who continue to work with Russia,” he says – but only when the waiter is out of earshot. The cross-border network of drug, arms and human trafficking that developed after the collapse of the Soviet Union was considered one of the strongest in the world. Even after 15 months of war it has not been destroyed.

When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, hundreds of kilometers of smuggling routes from the Russian border to Europe were also cut off. Not only battles and checkpoints stopped the illegal trade, but also outrage over the brutal attack. “The feeling of ‘us against them’ was so strong in Ukraine that even criminals became patriots,” said Reitano of the non-governmental organization Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime on Tuesday.

Powerful criminal group “neutralized”

Kirim also describes himself as a patriot and claims to stop doing business with Russians. Others in the environment would have donated money to the war or to charity. According to reports, some criminals became soldiers. But criminals could also use the war to regroup or to be rewarded with clemency by the authorities for their support.

Aleksandr (40) is a debt collection agency in the underworld of Odessa. He also wants nothing more to do with Russians, but also with the state, which he considers corrupt. “I don’t want to fight for the army, but I will fight for my city,” he says, drinking his second beer of the morning.

At the start of the war, the Ukrainian secret service asked criminals to shut down their businesses and request information, both Kirim and Aleksandr report. Apparently not everyone followed this request. In the spring of 2022, a powerful criminal group was “neutralized” in Odessa that collaborated with the enemy and “terrorized and intimidated the local population,” an intelligence official says.

‘They look at the profit, even in war’

With the invasion, key figures in international organized crime left Russia and Ukraine for Central Asia, the Gulf States and other countries. “We know that the Russian and Ukrainian underworlds outside Ukraine still work closely together,” says Reitano. The European police organization Europol also considers it very likely that gangsters from both countries will continue to work together.

There is never just one smuggling route. “At the moment we do not see any division between the Russian and Ukrainian mafia,” says Europol boss Catherine De Bolle (53). “You look at the profit, even in war.”

With or without Russians, the Odessa underworld is still active. “Everything goes on, Odessa is just Odessa,” says Kirim, the smuggler, and shrugs. (AFP)

Source: Blick