- Title: Yekaterinburg cemeteries monument to dead in turbulent Russian 1990s
- Date: 17th June 2018
- Summary: YEKATERINBURG, RUSSIA (JUNE 17, 2018) (REUTERS) SHIROKORECHENSKOYE CEMETERY GRAVE SITE OF MIKHAIL KUCHIN PAN DOWN ON KUCHIN'S HEAD STONE YEKATERINBURG CITY GUIDE, MARYANA IVANOV, WALKING (SOUNDBITE) (English) YEKATERINBURG CITY GUIDE, MARYANA IVANOV, SAYING: "It was the time when the country was in crisis, when people were starving, and there was no official way to become rich and enjoy your life, and they saw all these people in wealthy clothes, having beautiful clothes and they just wanted to enjoy their life and there was so much of it in our movies that they led not just a dangerous life but a beautiful life." MERCEDES KEYS HELD IN KUCHIN'S HAND SOUNDBITE (English) YEKATERINBURG CITY GUIDE MARYANA IVANOV, SAYING: "In the Soviet time, not so many people owned their cars, and you see he is holding Mercedes key which is not just a car, but a beautiful and expensive car which also shows that he wasn't just an ordinary Russian but a rich man and may be respected by locals. It shows not only his wealth but his influence in the city. So just to have a car was good, but to have a Mercedes key was that you had succeeded in your life." GRAVE SITE SOUNDBITE (English) YEKATERINBURG CITY GUIDE MARYANA IVANOV SAYING: "I think it is interesting for other people to come and look at them, because it so different from other countries, where the idea (of a cemetery) is just a place where you can come and bring a flower. But it really attracts your attention that it is so powerful and beautiful." IVANOV WALKING OFF GRAVES OF THREE FORMER AFGHAN WAR VETERANS KILLED IN GANG-RELATED ACTIVITY IN 1994, INCLUDING VIKTOR KASINSTEV (CENTRE) KASINSTEV DEPICTION OF SOLDIER FROM AFGHAN WAR FOUR BUSTS ON GRAVES, INCLUDING THAT OF CASINO OWNER OLEG VAGIN (SECOND ON LEFT) OTHER BUSTS ARE OF HIS BODYGUARDS. THEY WERE ALL KILLED IN GANG-RELATED ACTIVITY IN 1992 CLOSE UP OF VAGIN'S BUST VAGIN'S GRAVE SITE ON LEFT AS WELL AS THAT OF ONE OF HIS BODYGUARDS ROMANY GRAVESTONES. EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: THOSE DEPICTED ON THESE GRAVESTONES HAVE NO KNOWN CRIMINAL ASSOCIATION PEOPLE WALKING IN CEMETERY VARIOUS OF GRAVES IN URALMASH CEMETERY THREE BUSTS INCLUDING THAT OF GANG LEADERS GRIGORY TSYGANOV (FIRST LEFT) AND ALEXANDER KHABAROV (FAR RIGHT) BUSTS AT GRAVE INSCRIPTION READING GRIGORY TSYGANOV AND GIVING HIS DATES OF BIRTH AND DEATH TSYGANOV / CCTV CAMERA WATCHING OVER HIS GRAVE SOUNDBITE (English) EKATERINBURG CITY GUIDE MARYANA IVANOV, SAYING: "The guy here just close to us, Grigory Tsyganov he was killed in 1991, but already in 1992 the Central leader (Oleg Vagin) was killed in a way to revenge for the very first murder. That is how it started. And they killed not at night, not to let anyone see it, not so they didn't have witnesses, but they killed in the middle of the day when everyone was going to work. So they were not afraid of the police or any prison, just of anything." VARIOUS OF GRAVESTONES VARIOUS GRAVESTONES
- Embargoed: 1st July 2018 18:19
- Keywords: Ekaterinburg cemetery Urals Mikhail Kuchin Oleg Vagin Grigory Tsyganov
- Location: YEKATERINBURG, RUSSIA
- City: YEKATERINBURG, RUSSIA
- Country: Russia
- Topics: Society/Social Issues,Sport
- Reuters ID: LVA0018KP5WEF
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: THOSE DEPICTED ON THESE GRAVESTONES HAVE NO KNOWN CRIMINAL ASSOCIATION
Elaborate gravestones in two of Yekaterinburg's cemeteries stand as monuments to a turbulent time in Russia's recent history - the 1990s when the Soviet collapse gave birth to capitalism and lawlessness.
When the Soviet Union collapsed, entrepreneurs sprung up to take the place of the state in cities across Russia, but with billions of pounds at stake in business and industry, they were quick to turn to violence to get what they wanted.
In central Russia near the Ural mountains, Yekaterinburg - with mining, minerals and heavy industry up for grabs - saw a bloody turf war break out between rival gangs from the north and central part of the city.
"It was the time when the country was in crisis when people were starving and there was no official way to become rich and enjoy your life," says local city guide Maryana Ivanov, who is expecting an uppick in interest in her tours with Yekaterinburg playing host to four group stage games at the 2018 World Cup.
What was particularly shocking about the killings in Yekaterinburg - as well as Russia as a whole - was the brazen way in which they were carried out.
"They killed not at night, not to let anyone see it, not so they didn't have witnesses, but they killed in the middle of the day when everyone was going to work," says Ivanov. "They were not afraid of the police or any prison."
The death toll climbed quickly, and many of those who were killed were immortalised on marble, artists capturing their image in eerily life-like - and life-size - poses.
Just as they lived their lives, members of the respective gangs were also territorial in death, buried in different graveyards on their own patches a 30 minute drive apart, Ivanov said.
Graves of the central gang are found in the city's vast Shirokorechenskoye cemetery, which, as well as plots for ordinary members of the public, also has a memorial to those who died in the Second World War and a graveyard for German prisoners of war.
One gravestone depicts Mikhail Kuchin, shot down in a hail of bullets in 1993 when he was just 34. Shown in a smart business suit, a nod to his wealth is the set of Mercedes car keys that he holds in his left hand. Back in the 1990s, this was an extravagant show of status.
Lying a few paces down from Kuchin is gang leader Oleg Vagin, surrounded by three of his bodyguards. So the grisly tale goes, he was killed by so many bullets in 1992 that a special embalmer was required before his burial.
In the district's cemetery the grave of Grigory Tsyganov - the founder of the North gang - is watched over by a CCTV camera to prevent his final resting place being desecrated.
Killed in 1991 it was his death that sparked the gang wars (the slaying of Vagin was an act of retaliation that took a year of meticulous planning) and he is buried alongside two associates, one of whom is Alexander Khabarov, found hanged in prison in 2004. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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