Brothers' Circle

Common card · No. 285492

The Brothers' Circle or Bratski Krug (Russian: Братский круг) is a term used to refer to Russian organized crime, commonly the Russian mafia. It is a loose translation of the Russian term "Bratva" (Russian: Братва), which can also be loosely translated as “brotherhood” or “band of brothers". The term "bratva" received its wide dissemination in the 1990s after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and was used as an informal address among the members of many gangs which spread throughout post-soviet republics. Today the term is used as an informal way of addressing close friends. This form of address and lack of proper interpretation resulted in its name being used in connection to Russian organized crime. With support from Spanish prosecutor José "Pepe" Grinda González and Alexander Litvinenko, Spanish, German, Austrian, and Swiss authorities from June 2005 until 2007 conducted Operation Wasp (Russian: спецоперация «Оса») (Spanish: Operación Avispa) and, later, Operation Troika (Russian: Операция...

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