Kirim takes a drag on a cigarette, explaining why he decided to sever all ties with Russian criminals: the war forced this Ukrainian smuggler to end his involvement in one of the world’s most powerful mafia networks. As a result of the collapse of the Soviet Union, the cross-border trade in drugs, weapons and people between Russia and Ukraine was turned upside down by the Russian invasion that began in 2022, writes AFP.

“The vast majority of Ukrainian criminals have gone over to the side of Ukraine, but there are some who continue to cooperate with Russia,” explains 59-year-old Kirim in a cafe in Odesa, a port city in the south of the country. country.

With the attack on Ukraine, Russian troops blocked the smuggling route from Russia to Europe for hundreds of kilometers.

Organized crime in both countries, which share historical, linguistic and cultural ties, flourished in the turbulent 1990s, exploiting widespread corruption.

Although it was one of the most well-connected criminal systems in Europe, the war created physical barriers to cross-border movement, along with fighting on the front lines and at checkpoints. The sense of “us against them” has developed even among the Ukrainian mafia, so that even criminals feel patriotic, says Tuesday Reitano, deputy director of the NGO Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime.

Kirim presents himself as a patriot and claims that he has cut off all his smuggling ties with the Russians, while insisting that criminals finance Ukrainian military activities and charities. According to him, some of them also took part in battles at the front.

Reitano says it’s possible the criminal underworld is using martial law to try to improve its image or gain leniency from the authorities in exchange for its support.

Another representative of the Odessa criminal under the pseudonym Oleksandr also calls himself a patriot who refuses to work with the Russians. The 40-year-old debt collector claims, however, that the unwritten code of the criminal world prohibits any cooperation with the Ukrainian state, which, in his opinion, is fundamentally corrupt. “I don’t want to fight for them, but I will fight for my city,” he declares, sipping his second beer of the morning.

The two thugs say Ukrainian intelligence services ordered the mafia to shut down when Moscow invaded the country, and that they wanted any information about the Russians.

Ukrainian law enforcement officials told AFP that in the spring of 2022, they “neutralized” a powerful criminal group in Odesa that cooperated with Moscow and “terrorized and intimidated residents.”

“So far we do not see a split between the Russian and Ukrainian mafia”

Whatever patriots they call themselves, local Ukrainian criminals cannot help but take advantage of the free territory left by their Russian counterparts, driven out by the war. When the war broke out, members of known international organized crime groups left Russia and Ukraine for less troubled regions such as Central Asia and the Persian Gulf.

“We know that there is still a lot of cooperation between the Russian and Ukrainian criminal worlds, outside of Ukraine,” says Reitano.

According to the European police agency Europol, it is very likely that gangsters from the two countries will continue to cooperate.

Criminals use different smuggling routes, and blocking one of them does not stop the traffic. They adapt and diversify their activities.

“They are focused on profits and, despite the war, continue their criminal activities, looking for the best opportunities,” explains Catherine De Bolle, director of Europol. “At the moment, we do not see any split between the Russian and Ukrainian mafias,” she adds.

In Odesa, regardless of whether they are with the Russians or not, despite the obstacles of the war, the calculations still work. “Despite everything that is happening, we continue. Odesa remains Odessa,” says smuggler Kirim, shrugging his shoulders slightly. (Source: News.ro / Photo: Dreamstime.com)