Russian Mafia

Introduction
The Russian Mafia (Русская мафия, Russkaya Mafiya), Red Mafia (Красная мафия, Krasnaya Mafiya), Bratva (Братва, slang for 'brotherhood') is a Russian Organized Crime group, rising to prominence in the political, economic and social turmoil following the fall of the Soviet Union. Russian organized crime has existed well before the fall of the Soviet Union, but it has hit it's stride in the years since. During it's formation, many members were veterans of the Russian Armed Forces, including members of the state intelligence group and secret police force, the KGB, who were suddenly out of work and had the skills to excel in the world of crime. While primarily a Russian organization, the Russian Mafia operates across the globe in a wide variety of criminal activities such as prostitution, drugs, gambling and extortion, though reportedly specialize in smuggling black-market goods and money laundering.

Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction
The Russian Mafia are one of the five factions in Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction.

Though undoubtedly powerful, the Mafia is first and foremost a criminal organization and therefore has no major military presence in North Korea. However, its well-armed thugs and customized vehicles patrol the streets of many North Korean cities, including the capital, Pyongyang. Most Mafia Thugs carry Type 85 Sub-Machine Guns and most Capos (officers) carry Shotguns. The Mafia Enforcers are equipped with RPD light machine guns, Dragunov SVD's, and RPGs. But the Mafia still have the lightest ground presence out of all the factions, with few men and no tanks or APCs, and very few helicopters. The Northern Province, however, has a vast presence of Mafia Technicals and SUVs, presumably since at this point, there is no Allied or NK navy blockade to stop their import.

Any land vehicle can be sold to the Mafia's chop shop. High-end vehicles (such as tanks) are naturally worth the most money. The less damaged the vehicle, the greater the pay for them. They do not pay less for a vehicle that has less ammo than its maximum capacity however. This is the only way outside of missions and killing NK, SK, or Chinese soldiers to raise the player's standing with the Mafia. The Russian Mafia also run the Merchant of Menace shop, which can be accessed via your PDA. This shop allows you to purchase vehicles and supply drops, as well as air strikes unlocked throughout the game. If the Mafia become hostile to the player, the player will be locked out of the shop. The shop also increases prices the more unfriendly the Mafia are to the player, and lower it if they become friendlier.

Soldier Classes

 * Thugs - The most basic Mafia soldier, thugs wear brown/orange shirts under a black jacket. They are typically armed with SMGs and, occasionally, shotguns and assault rifles. They are also the ones who commandeer the MD-530 Scout helicopters and Mafia Technicals, along with the helicopters that drop off vehicles for the player.
 * Enforcers - The Enforcers are the Mafia's equivalent of the other faction's heavy soldiers. They wear orange-brown leather jackets with bandoliers of ammo across their torso, and are usually armed with Light Machine Guns or RPGs.
 * Capi - The Capi (plural of Capo) act as the officers of the Mafia. They wear long overcoats, beanies and shades, and are usually armed with shotguns. Capi drop stacks of cash worth 5000 whenever they are killed. The best place to spot these men are the Mafia chop-shops next to their HQs.

Named Characters

 * Sergei Voronov - The Mafia's young, eccentric, and paranoid leader. He aims to make a name for himself as a respectable godfather, and will do anything to get what he wants. He is not afraid to betray and kill people he doesn't trust, and often risks the Mafia's secrecy by giving the merc increasingly bold contracts.
 * Josef Yurinov - Sergei's lieutenant and ex-KGB killer. As an experienced soldier who has fought in theatres such as Kosovo and now North Korea, he is very intelligent and knows how to work things out before taking action. He prefers a more silent and discreet approach than Sergei does.
 * Misha - A mafia thug who is promoted to the faction's lieutenant during the last quarter of the game.
 * Mikhail - One of the thugs sitting on the couch watching TV inside the HQ. If the player chooses to 'pester' him when prompted, Sergei will state that if agitated he will "bite your ear off".
 * Pavel - The bartender inside the Mafia's HQ. At certain times the mercenary can interact with the bar and order a drink for free.

Unnamed Characters

 * The Mafia HQ nightclub bouncer.
 * A Capo stationed near the Mafia's chop shop in East Pyongyang.
 * A non-officer Capo stationed near the Yongbyon chop shop.
 * Three Mafia Capos supervising the Mafia's activities in Haeju.
 * A group of thugs sent to help the mercenary verify the Jack of Clubs, along with securing a FROG-7 Missile Truck.

Diplomacy
Allies: N/A

Enemies: All factions. However, no faction besides the North Koreans actually open fire on them, and the Mafia do not open fire on any faction besides North Korea.

Trivia

 * Strangely, the Russian Mafia's insignia has a hammer and sickle, implying that they're Communist or at least Socialist. However, the Capos carry large amounts of money on their bodies and their shop is modeled after the free market system. Given that the Mafia is composed of many former Soviet intelligence agents, this was most likely for the sake of nostalgia or a display of their heritage on their part. The image could also be symbolic of their life of crime, as the skull over the hammer and sickle makes it resemble the Jolly Roger; the flag stereotypically associated with piracy. It may represent these former government agents turning over to a life of crime.


 * It is possible to order free vehicles, weapon drops, and artillery from the mafia. The player must select the support item, throw down the smoke grenade, and select a support option (it does not have to be a different support item) before the smoke billows and the supplies will be free. This makes it easy to earn fast money and mafia friendliness, as the player can continuously call in expensive vehicles for free and than sell them back for money.

Related Pages

 * Factions