russian crime

Quite what is Russia's game plan over Ukraine? It seems hard to explain through common sense, so I conduct a thought experiment: what would Putin have to be thinking to believe that a war, with all the consequent and catastrophic political and economic costs, might make sense?

In the second part, I look at some developments in the Russian underworld that suggest that a long nightmare - the prospect of nation-wide mafia wars - might well actually be on the wane.

You can also follow my blog, In Moscow's Shadows, and become one of the podcast's supporting Patrons and gain question-asking rights and access to exclusive extra materials right here. 

This week Angelina and Aurora unwrap an especially disturbing case from Russian true crime history.  Ten years ago, on November 2nd, 2011, Anatoly Moskvin was arrested. The historian and polyglot was a renowned linguist, writer,  and contributor to a number of Publications -- but he hid a dark secret. Moskvin's doll-making hobby was not what it appeared.

Writing and research by Angelina Villeseche.

Original music and audio production by Louis Levesque.
For inquiries: louis14levesque@gmail.com

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LINKS + SOURCES:

https://7news.com.au/news/world/russian-man-lived-with-girls-mummified-corpses-turned-them-into-dolls--c-1536329

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8904599/Graverobber-stole-girls-corpses-doll-collection-refuses-apologise-parents.html

https://allthatsinteresting.com/anatoly-moskvin

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-15653074

https://medium.com/the-mystery-box/the-doll-house-of-human-corpses-b49ca89c19c8

https://vocal.media/criminal/moskvin-the-doll-collector

https://nypost.com/2020/11/03/russian-grave-robber-who-kept-bodies-of-26-girls-wont-apologize-to-parents/

https://medium.com/our-weird-wonderful-world/the-russian-doll-collector-d91456ec2ad7

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anatoly_Moskvin

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6681825/Russian-bodysnatcher-stole-corpses-29-girls-turned-dolls-set-walk-free.html

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/13087066/graverobber-stole-corpses-dressed-dolls-refuses-apologise-parents/

 In a special Two Steps East series, CEE private detective/risk intelligence expert and investigator Preston Smith examines the history of the Thieves-in-Law/Vory v Zakone crime groups and how Russian spy games, modern organized crime a North Ossetian murder gang and an NGO all became entwined in one of the largest money-laundering schemes ever--and how they came under the eye of Spanish police and Polish authorities both.

In this episode the ring of mafia players, including Niall M., Aslan G. and Tambovskaya mob leader Gennady P., Niall M. is bought to justice by Spanish, Russian and Austrian law enforcement despite the lobbying of a mysterious NGO based in Poland--an NGO whose track record is questionable and whose leaders have themselves run afoul, controversially, with the law while also pushing for the ouster of the current, equally controversial government.

(Bonemusic [intro and outro] copyright Preston Smith and Marek Tymkoff)

In a special Two Steps East series, CEE private detective/risk intelligence expert and investigator Preston Smith examines the history of the Thieves-in-Law/Vory v Zakone crime groups and how Russian spy games, modern organized crime a North Ossetian murder gang and an NGO all became entwined in one of the largest money-laundering schemes ever--and how they came under the eye of Spanish police and Polish authorities both. 

In this introduction episode: a brief history of the Vory, their evolution move west and the rise of more "modern" Russian crime gangs such as the Tambovskaya or more infamous Solntcevskaya Bratva. 

(Bonemusic [intro and outro] copyright Preston Smith and Marek Tymkoff)

For roughly fifteen years, an unassuming Russian woman named Tamara Samsonova may have secretly murdered between ten and perhaps as many as fourteen people. When she was finally arrested in 2015, she was sixty-eight years old and just weeks removed from her final, gruesome murder. Her age and the way she dismembered her victims’ bodies led to her “Granny Ripper” nickname. She was also given the name “Babushka Yaga” due to rumors of cannibalism, her interest in the occult, and the fact that her overall look led many to label her a real-life Baba Yaga. When Samsonova’s story broke in the press, the Russian tabloids went buck wild and started claiming that Babusha Yaga ate her victims. That she killed in order to complete dark occult rituals. The current belief in the occult is very, very strong in Russia. Faith healers, witches, sorcerers - YES, SORCERERS - very much in demand in Russia today. More so than actual medical doctors. And today, we explore all of this and more on another crazy, Russian edition of Timesuck.

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