Mark Galeotti

The first English-language book to document the men who emerged from the gulags to become Russia’s much-feared crime class: the vory v zakone Mark Galeotti is the go-to expert on organized crime in Russia, consulted by governments and police around the world. Now, Western readers can explore the fascinating history of the vory v zakone, a group that has survived and thrived amid the changes brought on by Stalinism, the Cold War, the Afghan War, and the end of the Soviet experiment. The vory—as the Russian mafia is also known—was born early in the twentieth century, largely in the Gulags and criminal camps, where they developed their unique culture. Identified by their signature tattoos, members abided by the thieves’ code, a strict system that forbade all paid employment and cooperation with law enforcement and the state. Based on two decades of on-the-ground research, Galeotti’s captivating study details the vory’s journey to power from their early days to their adaptation to modern-day Russia’s free-wheeling oligarchy and global opportunities beyond.

The colourful, enthralling story of the Russo-Mongol battle of Kulikovo, involving: the killing of a Muscovite prince (only for it to turn out to be a body double) and an unexpected ambush to turn looming defeat into glorious victory. The 14th-century Mongol conquest of the Rus’ – the principalities of Russia – was devastating and decisive. Cities were lain waste, new dynasties rose and for a hundred years the Russians were under unquestioned foreign rule. However, the Mongols were conquerors rather than administrators and they chose to rule through subject princes. This allowed the Rurikid dynastic princes of Moscow to rise with unprecedented speed. With the famed ‘Mongol Yoke’ loosening, Grand Prince Dmitri of Moscow saw in this an unparalleled opportunity to rebel. On 7 September 1380 his 60,000 troops crossed the Don to take the battle to Mamai’s 125,000, which included Armenian and Cherkessk auxiliaries and Genoese mercenaries. Using specially commissioned artwork, this is the engrossing story of the victory that heralded the birth of Russian statehood.

'Galeotti sketches a bleak, but convincing picture of the man in the Kremlin and the political system that he dominates' - The TimesMeet the world's most dangerous man. Who is the real Vladimir Putin? What does he want? And what will he do next? Despite the millions of words written on Putin's Russia, the West still fails to truly understand one of the world's most powerful politicians, whose influence spans the globe and whose networks of power reach into the very heart of our daily lives. In this essential primer, Professor Mark Galeotti uncovers the man behind the myth, addressing the key misperceptions of Putin and explaining how we can decipher his motivations and next moves. From Putin's early life in the KGB and his real relationship with the USA to his vision for the future of Russia - and the world - Galeotti draws on new Russian sources and explosive unpublished accounts to give unparalleled insight into the man at the heart of global politics.

This book cuts through the misunderstandings about Russia’s geopolitical challenge to the West, presenting this not as ‘hybrid war’ but ‘political war.’Russia seeks to antagonise: its diplomats castigate Western ‘Russophobia’ and cultivate populist sentiment abroad, while its media sells Russia as a peaceable neighbour and a bastion of traditional social values. Its spies snoop, and even kill, and its hackers and trolls mount a 24/7 onslaught on Western systems and discourses. This is generally characterised as ‘hybrid war,’ but this is a misunderstanding of Russian strategy. Drawing extensively not just on their writings but also decades of interactions with Russian military, security and government officials, this study demonstrates that the Kremlin has updated traditional forms of non-military ‘political war’ for the modern world. Aware that the West, if united, is vastly richer and stronger, Putin is seeking to divide, and distract, in the hope it will either accept his claim to Russia’s great-power status – or at least be unable to prevent him. In the process, Russia may be foreshadowing how the very nature of war is changing: political war may be the future. This book will be of much interest to students of strategic studies, war studies, Russian politics and security studies.

Kiehtova kertomus Venäjän eliitin, valtiovallan ja alamaailman suhteista. Venäläistä järjestäytynyttä rikollisuutta on pitkään kutsuttu sanoilla vor v zakone, jotka tarkoittavat ”laillistettua varasta” tai ”varasta, joka on laki”. Valtansa huipulla mafia oli Stalinin vankileirien aikana, jolloin gangsterit eri puolilta maata verkostoituivat leireillä. Leirien vartijat eivät pitkään uskaltaneet uhmata rikollisryhmiä, mutta Neuvostoliiton viimeisinä vuosina rikolliset luopuivat kunniakoodistaan, joka kielsi yhteistyön viranomaisten kanssa. Seurauksena oli turvallisuuspalveluiden ja mafian molempia hyödyttävä liitto. Voima ja valta kertoo nyky-Venäjän hallinnon ja mafian yhteyksistä. Maata voi kuvata kleptokratiaksi, joka ei erottele toisistaan rikollisuutta ja politiikkaa. Presidentti Putin, entinen KGB-mies, käyttää mielellään alamaailmasta tuttua kieltä esimerkiksi tilien tasaamisesta terroristien ja ”pettureiden” kanssa. Hänen kaudellaan gangsterisodat ja näyttävät palkkamurhat ovat vähentyneet, mutta sisäsiistimpi mafia on helpommin hallinnon käytettävissä. Aiemmin rikolliset, viranomaiset ja poliitikot toimivat toistensa julkisivuina tai apukäsinä esimerkiksi rahanpesussa tai luksustavaran salakuljetuksessa, mutta nykyään Kremlillä on varkaille suurempiakin tehtäviä. Mafia on auttanut Venäjää Itä-Ukrainassa ja Krimillä, ja Yhdysvaltojen vaaleja manipuloineet hakkerit ovat yksi sen uusista kasvoista. Prahan kansainvälisten suhteiden tutkimuslaitoksen tutkija Mark Galeotti on kirjoittanut teoksen, joka on äärimmäisen ajankohtainen ja kiihkoton mutta kiehtova kertomus eliitin, valtiovallan ja alamaailman suhteista. Galeotti on kommentoinut asiantuntijaroolissa myös Suomeen liittyviä kysymyksiä, kuten Airiston helmen tapausta syksyllä 2018.

The geography of Russia -- vast, unwieldy, exposed -- and her tragic history of foreign invasion have created an overriding sense of military vulnerability amongst her leaders that, after the horrors of the Second World War, amounted almost to paranoia. This important study of the years since Brezhnev shows how this obsession with national security have been at the core of Russian thinking right through the reforms of the Gorbachev era and the eventual collapse of the USSR, and continues to dominate the turbulent politics of post-Soviet Russia today.

A full and authoritative illustrated history of Russia’s army since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, including Air Assault and Navy ground forces. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia's army has undergone a turbulent transformation, from the scattered left-overs of the old Soviet military, through a period of shocking decay and demoralization, to the disciplined force and sophisticated 'hybrid war' doctrine that enabled Vladimir Putin to seize Crimea virtually overnight in 2014. Using rare photographs and full colour images of the army in action, profiles of army leaders and defence ministers, as well as orders of battle and details of their equipment and dress, this is a vivid account of the army’s troubled history and of its character, capabilities and status. Written by an internationally respected author with remarkable access to Russian-language sources and Russian veterans, this study is essential reading for anyone wishing to understand the growing power of Russia’s military.

Authoritative illustrated analysis of the history of the military Special Forces units of the Soviet Union and Russian Federation. When the shadowy, notorious Spetsnaz were first formed, they drew on a long Soviet tradition of elite, behind-the-lines commando forces from World War II and even earlier. Throughout the 1960s–70s they were instrumental both in projecting Soviet power in the Third World and in suppressing resistance within the Warsaw pact. As a powerful, but mysterious tool of a world superpower, the Spetsnaz have inevitably become the focus of many 'tall tales' in the West. In this book, a peerless authority on Russia's military Special Forces debunks several of these myths, uncovering truths that are often even more remarkable. Since the chaotic dissolution of the USSR and the two Chechen Wars, Russian forces have seen increasing modernization, involving them ever more in power-projection, counter-insurgency and anti-terrorism and the Spetsnaz have been deployed as a spearhead in virtually all of these operations. This fully illustrated book packed with details such as orders-of-battle, equipment and operational doctrine offers a unique, absorbing guide to the secrets of the Spetsnaz, their most noteworthy missions and personalities.

A detailed illustrated study of Putin's shadowy security and paramilitary armed forces. While the size of Russia’s regular forces has shrunk recently, its security and paramilitary elements have become increasingly powerful. Under the Putin regime they have proliferated and importantly seem set to remain Russia’s most active armed agencies for the immediate future. In parallel, within the murky world where government and private interests intersect, a number of paramilitary ‘private armies’ operate almost as vigilantes, with government toleration or approval. This book offers a succinct overview of the official, semi-official and unofficial agencies that pursue Russian government and quasi-government objectives by armed means, from the 200,000-strong Interior Troops, through Police and other independent departmental forces, down to private security firms. Featuring rare photographs, and detailed colour plates of uniforms, insignia and equipment, this study by a renowned authority explores the Putin regime’s shadowy special-forces apparatus, active in an array of counter-terrorist and counter-mafia wars since 1991.

THE BIRCHBARK CHRONICLES 1 - THE GOLDEN HORDE "From the fury of the Tatars, oh lord, deliver us..." The steppe nomads of the Golden Horde under their Mongol overlords have built a mighty empire, stretching across Asia and into the lands of the Rus'. This companion to the MYTHIC RUSSIA roleplaying game reveals more about the past conquests of the Golden Horde, its present peoples (including a full guide to the Bashkorts, one of the constituent peoples of the Horde) and its future troubles. Also includes maps, story seeds and a scenario. This is the basic, saddle-stitched version with black & white interior pages. A perfect-bound version with colour inside pages is also available (also as a PDF download).

The Soviet Union's last war was played out against the backdrop of dramatic change within the USSR. This is the first book to study the impact of the war on Russian politics and society. Based on extensive use of Soviet official and unofficial sources, as well as work with Afghan veterans, it illustrates the way the war fed into a wide range of other processes, from the rise of grassroots political activism to the retreat from globalism in foreign policy.

By turns radical, uncertain, ambitious and autocratic, Mikhail Gorbachev and his bid to reform the Soviet Union have shaped the contemporary world. This concise and lively book provides an introduction to the man and his times, setting them in the context of a decaying and ramshackle empire and an ideology long since betrayed by its professed followers. Drawing on the latest memoirs and scholarship, this book follows Gorbachev's increasingly desperate attempts to control the forces he unleashed and hold together a state whose days were over.

The Soviet Union's last war was played out against the backdrop of dramatic change within the USSR. This is the first book to study the impact of the war on Russian politics and society. Based on extensive use of Soviet official and unofficial sources, as well as work with Afghan veterans, it illustrates the way the war fed into a wide range of other processes, from the rise of grassroots political activism to the retreat from globalism in foreign policy.