This via The Huffington Post

The 1990s was a decade of excess for Russia, as a select group of citizens close to the government enjoyed the spoils of a newly privatized economic system. Capitalism exploded in the market place and those citizens, glorified mobsters and mafiosos, relished the cash flows and did what some money-hungry individuals with limited institutional restrictions would do — they started killing people to preserve their wealth.

Its been nearly two decades since the so-called Mafia Wars began in Russia and its neighboring states, but it’s almost impossible to forget the specific mixture of decadence and violence that reigned supreme. One need only to trek through a local graveyard to wax nostalgia and remember the days of kneecapping and protection rings. The extravagant tombstones that lay untouched in cities like Yekaterinburg, Russia and Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine stand as monuments to the tumultuous period.

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