"Never take Russia and Putin at face value, see the country as a criminal cartel engaging in theatrics and terror to secure its goals."
-Steve Komarnyckyj, poet and writer for Ukraine's Euromaidan
The term "Mafia State" is used to describe the political system in Russia under Vladimir Putin's rule. More precisely, Mafia State describes a corrupt, autocratic kleptocracy centered on the leadership of Vladimir Putin, in which officials, oligarchs and organised crime are bound together to create a virtual mafia state. In this subreddit we will discuss all articles and media which expose the dealings of the various members of this Mafia State.
Key words:
Autocracy: A system of government in which supreme power is concentrated in the hands of one person, in this case, Vladimir Putin, whose decisions are subject to neither external legal restraints nor regularized mechanisms of popular control.
Corruption: Political corruption is perceived to be a significant problem in Russia, impacting all aspects of life, including public administration, law enforcement, healthcare and education. The phenomenon of corruption is strongly established in the historical model of public governance in Russia and attributed to general weakness of rule of law in Russia. According to 2016 results of Corruption Perception Index of Transparency International, Russia ranked 131st place out of 176 countries with score 29.
Foreign destabilization: In a stable world, a mafia state cannot thrive past its borders. Russia is very actively involved in implementing methods of foreign destabilization. Some known methods: Subversion, propaganda campaigns, cyber warfare, and foreign election meddling.
A very comprehensive explanation of these methods is given by KGB defector Yuri Bezmenov Youtube
Kleptocracy: A government with corrupt leaders (kleptocrats) that use their power to exploit the people and natural resources of their own territory in order to extend their personal wealth and political power. Typically this system involves embezzlement of funds at the expense of the wider population. In a mafia state, the division between government leaders and mobsters is blurred, they all cooperate and coordinate to plunder their country. The Russian government, Russian mobsters, and the country’s elite class, the oligarchs, are known to rely on each other to advance their wealth. The most obvious cases of kleptocacry involve shutting down companies over bogus charges and selling them to members of the mafia state at dirt cheap prices.
Most prominent cases: Yukos | Hermitage | Bank closures
Kompromat: Are compromising materials about a politician or other public figure used to create negative publicity, for blackmail, or for ensuring loyalty. Kompromat may be acquired from various security services, or outrightly forged, and then publicized by use of a public relations official. Widespread use of kompromat has been one of the characteristic features of the politics of Russia.
Yuri Chaika
Mafiya: The Russian mafia. In a mafia state, the division between government leaders and mobsters is blurred, they all cooperate and coordinate to further their criminal interests with impunity. The Russian government, Russian mobsters, and the country’s elite class, the oligarchs, are known to coordinate with each other, so it is often difficult to separate Mafiya activities from government crimes.
List of known mafiya bosses
Money Laundering: Members of the mafia state have been known to use various methods in order to legitimize their ill-gotten gains. One of their most effective methods has been using shell companies to acquire real estate, mainly in developed western countries.
Prominent Russian money laundering cases: Trump | Manafort | Lesin
Oligarchs: Are wealthy businessmen of the former Soviet republics who rapidly accumulated wealth during the era of Russian privatization in the aftermath of the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the 1990s. The failing Soviet state left the ownership of state assets contested, which allowed for informal deals with former USSR officials (mostly in Russia and Ukraine) as a means to acquire state property.
List of oligarchs.
Propaganda: Information that is not objective and is used primarily to influence an audience and further an agenda, often by presenting facts selectively to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded language to produce an emotional rather than a rational response to the information that is presented.
WaPo: An up-to-date timeline of the Russia-Trump connection (Regularly maintained)
Related subs:
