The Brothers' Circle or Bratski Krug ( rus, Братский круг) is a term used to refer to Russian organized crime, commonly the Russian mafia. It is a loose translation of the Russian term "Bratva" (Russian: Братва), which can also be loosely translated as “brotherhood” or “band of brothers". The term "bratva" received its wide dissemination in the 1990s after the collapse of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

, and was used as an informal address among the members of many gangs which spread throughout post-soviet republics. Today the term is used as an informal way of address among close friends. This form of address and lack of proper interpretation resulted in its name being used in connection to Russian organized crime. U.S. Department of the Treasury officials suggest that it operates in the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, and the United States, and is controlled by Vladislav Leontyev, a Russian man from

Nizhny Novgorod Nizhny Novgorod ( ; rus, links=no, Нижний Новгород, a=Ru-Nizhny Novgorod.ogg, p=ˈnʲiʐnʲɪj ˈnovɡərət ), colloquially shortened to Nizhny, from the 13th to the 17th century Novgorod of the Lower Land, formerly known as Gork ...

."What is the Brothers’ Circle?"
12 March 2012, ''

Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) is a global network of investigative journalists with staff on six continents. It was founded in 2006 and specializes in organized crime and corruption. It publishes its stories through ...

'' In 2011 the group was defined by the

Obama administration Barack Obama's tenure as the 44th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2009, and ended on January 20, 2017. A Democrat from Illinois, Obama took office following a decisive victory over Republican ...

of the

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in the "Strategy on Combating Transnational Organized Crime", as "A multiethnic criminal group composed of leaders and senior members of several criminal organizations largely based in countries of Europe. Many Brothers' Circle's members share a common ideology based on the

thief in law A “thief in law” (Russian: вор в зако́не, Georgian: კანონიერი ქურდი), in the Soviet Union, the post-Soviet states, and respective diasporas abroad is a specifically granted formal and special status of ...

tradition, which seeks to spread their brand of criminal influence around the world."

Debate over existence

Mark Galeotti, an expert on Eurasian security, has stated that: "I have not found anyone in Russian law enforcement or elsewhere who actually says 'yes, the Brothers' Circle is an organization and it exists. As such the label Brothers' Circle could be seen as an attempt to connect disparate criminal gangs." In June 2012, with the designation of five more kingpins, Galeotti restated his opinion that the Brothers' Circle did not exist as a specific gang, but noted that the sanctions were in fact targeting members of Aslan Usoyan's criminal network.

Alleged members

* Zakhar Kalashov *Vasiliy Khristoforov * Kamchy Kolbayev * Vladislav Leontyev * Gafur Rakhimov *Lazar Shaybazyan *Alexey Zaytsev

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brothers' Circle Factions of the Russian Mafia Kyrgyzstani gangsters Uzbekistani gangsters Gangsters from Georgia (country) Secret societies related to organized crime Transnational organized crime

Debate over existence

Alleged members

See also

References