Russia's new mafia...

...Who runs Russia?

Mark Galeotti, a Russian mafia specialist at New York University, says he is not a fan of the “Mafia state” hypothesis, in which organised crime is essentially inseparable from the Kremlin. However, he says it is undeniable that on occasion, one side will find a use for the other: “If we look at the extent to which organised crime does the bidding of the state the answer is that it happens in specific cases,” he said “The state can often set the rules because the state is clearly the biggest game in town.”