![]() ![]() The region's top policeman Major-General Igor Ivanov has taken personal control of the investigation, reports local media. Police have opened a murder probe and cordoned of the scene. Later his body is turned over and at least six bullet wounds are visible on his back. ![]() His associates appear shocked at first but within seconds of the contract killing they flee the restaurant in the Kemerovo region of Siberia, a major coal mining area. A friend turns his body so he is face down. You can buy this book on, to buy click the link below.Zhestokov falls onto the floor and appears to cover his face before falling still. You can find more than 180 examples of Russian prison tattoos in the book by Akrady Bronnikov titled “Russian Criminal Tattoo Police Files: Volume I”. Anyone caught with a ‘false’ tattoo, is expected to receive abuse from other prisoners.įrom their brutal history in branding to their modern presence in organized crime, prison tattoos are important cultural landmarks in Russia. In Russian prison society, a criminal is expected to stand up for their tattoos and all the specific meanings they represent. Russian prisoners tattoos are a unique artifact in the world of tattoos. ‘If a criminal made himself a wrong tattoo, bit more than he can chew, and in jails they check everything better than in police, where you were jailed, who was with you, this man will be seriously punished, beaten – or buggered.’ In my collection, there is a man with 16 rings. The body is often covered with clothes so they make tattoos as rings on fingers. ‘Tattoos can tell important things about a person, for example, how many times he was jailed. Arkady describes some examples or Russian prison tattoos.Ĭredit: Vera Salnitskaya The man who reads the criminal mind by analyzing convicts’ tattoos Olga Gertcyk and Vera Salnitskaya interviewed one such historian named Arkady Bronnikov, the same person who took the photo published on that BBC article. Very few people have truly done the research to uncover the true meanings behind all of these tattoos. It’s full of conflicting tales, and lost stories. This history is very detailed and complicated. Many subtle markings tell a subtle tale of the person’s ethics and life story. Just from this short description of a specific group of tattoos, its clear that they can be very detailed and specific. (Photo: Arkady Bronnikov/FUEL Russian Criminal Tattoo Archive) “They are proof that the body of their wearer is not mired in ‘betrayal’, that he is ‘clean’ before his fellow convicts.” The ‘thieves’ cross on the chest of this man is small, “suggesting this man has adopted a thieves’ mentality, but he is not a ‘vor v zakone’ or ‘thief-in-law’, he holds no real power among this caste”. ![]() They copy both their tattoos and mannerisms in an attempt to elevate their status.” Tattoos of saints and angels are mainly applied to the back and chest, and signify a devotion to the thieves’ traditions. The BBC published an example of such tattoos, originally photographed by Arkady Bronnikov.Ĭredit: Arkady Bronnikov Secret meanings of Russian prisoner tattoosĪs soon as an inmate enters a prison or a camp, according to Bronnikov, “They realize that the thieves are in charge. They have official codes of conduct and their own ethics. These professional criminals use tattoos to indicate caste and status within their organization. One particular group, known as the “Vor v Zakone” (translated to “Thief in law”) considered tattoos a rite of passage. Over time, prison tattoos expanded to more significance within the general criminal culture in Russia. Tattoos last for life, and even when criminals eventually left the gulags, they carried their tattoos with them. In 1846, VOR was replaced by “KAT” the first three letters of the word for “hard labor convict” or katorzhnik. Brands were also applied to the shoulder blade and the right forearm, in three categories “SK” for Ssylno-Katorzhny (hard labour convict), “SP” for Ssylno-Poselenets (hard labour deportee) and “B” for Begly (escapee). In the 19th century, a “pricked” cross on the left hand was often used to identify deserters from the army, and up until 1846, criminals sentenced to hard labor were branded “VOR” (thief), the letters on the forehead and cheeks. Source: Alex Cavendish’s blog article “ Branded: the Mark of Cain“ Russian criminal tattoos ![]()
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