The Rise of Vory V Zakone « Mafia Wars Tips and Strategy Blog

The Rise of Vory V Zakone

14
Oct/095

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

Mafia Wars Moscow is the new expansion from Zynga and is one of the hottest new releases in the gaming industry. While gaming on social networks may not receive the massive publicity and attention that MMO (Massively Multi-Player Online) games benefit from, they are none the less one of the most popular types of games in the world today.

The Moscow expansion presents the player with access to Russia but forces them to choose sides between the Russian Mafiya and the Vory V Zakone. I was always taught to make an informed choice and I am passing that on to you by offering a bit of detail on each group. Yesterday we learned about the Mafiya and today I will give you some background on the Vory V Zakone.

Vory V Zakone translates into “Thieves in Law”, an organization that is arguably the elite of the Russian organized crime world.

There have been criminals in areas of Russia and the former USSR for centuries, but during the Russian Revolution of 1917 these criminal elements became more powerful and were known collectively as vorovskoy mir or “thieves’ world”.

After the revolution of 1917 the Soviet Union was brought back into order and the People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs or NKVD nearly brought the criminal element to its knees by imprisoning or killing most of them. However those who were sent into the Russian gulag became galvanized and arose as what we now know as the vory v zakone.

Like their cousins the Mafiya, vory v zakone flourished following the breakup of the Soviet Union by infiltrating the top political and economic areas of Russia and the post-Soviet countries. Members of the group are given title by other members and in order to remain in their appointed position of power must abide by the code. The penalty for ignoring the code can be at best mutilation and at worst death.

The Thief’s Code

1.) Forsake his relatives–mother, father, brothers, sisters.

2.) Not have a family of his own — no wife, no children; this does not however, preclude him from having a lover.

3.) Never, under any circumstances work, no matter how much difficulty this brings-, live only on means gleaned from thievery.

4.) Help other thieves — both by moral and material support, utilizing the commune of thieves.

5.) Keep secret information about the whereabouts of accomplices (i.e. dens, districts, hideouts, safe apartments, etc.).

6.) In unavoidable situations (if a thief is under investigation) to take the blame for someone else’s crime; this buys the other person time of freedom.

7.) Demand convocation of inquiry for the purpose of resolving disputes in the event of a conflict between oneself and other thieves, or between thieves.

8.) If necessary, participate in such inquiries.

9.) Carry out the punishment of the offending thief as decided by the convocation.

10.) Not resist carrying out the decision of punishing the offending thief who is found guilty, with punishment determined by the convocation.

11.) Have good command of the thieves’ jargon (”Fehnay”).

12.) Not gamble without being ability to cover losses.

13.) Teach the trade to young beginners.

14.) Have, if possible, informants from the rank and file of thieves.

15.) Not lose your reasoning ability when using alcohol.

16.) Have nothing to do with the authorities (particularly with the ITU, Correctional Labor Authority), not participate in public activities, nor join any community organizations.

17.) Not take weapons from the hands of authorities; not serve in the military.

18.) Make good on promises given to other thieves.

The vory v zakone live and die by the code.

The vory v zakone have been in existence since the early 20th century but criminal activity has been distributed throughout the Russia and the regions, countries, and territories which made up the former USSR for centuries. These elements became the vory v zakone following the revolution of 1917 and began in the Soviet gulag system. The vory live and die by the Thief’s Code.