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| R Syndicate | |
|---|---|
| Part of Prime Earth's history | |
| General Information | |
| Abbreviations | RS |
| Other names | Raskolnikov's Syndicate |
| Type | Criminal enterprise/organization |
| Status | Defunct |
| Headquarters |  Moscow, Russian Federation |
| Established at | July 6, 2016 |
| Founder | Artem Lebedev |
| Disestablished at | December 22, 2020 |
| Key locations | Russia Europe |
| Notable members | Nikolai Volkov Vladislav Vukovic |
| Leadership | |
| Leader | Artem Lebedev |
| Second-in-Command | Vladislav Vukovic |
| Economical information | |
| Means of revenue | Drug trafficking, weapons trafficking, fraud, extortion, organized killings, racketeering |
| Additional information | |
| Number of members | 14,000 (2020) |
The R Syndicate (RS) was a large criminal enterprise owned by Artem Lebedev. The majority of its activities took place in Russia, with some activities taking place in post-Soviet countries. It was established on July 6, 2016, and abolished on December 22, 2020, after the organization failed to reach a peaceful resolution to an internal dispute.
R Syndicate's main criminal activities were drug trafficking, weapons trafficking, illegal weapons manufacturing, extortion, and racketeering. During 2019 and 2020, R Syndicate was considered to be the single largest criminal organization active in Russia. Lebedev had many connections within the Russian government and law enforcement. Through these connections, Lebedev easily obtained weapons from the Russian military. The organization was largely decentralized, with independent cells operating in different cities throughout the country. The largest cell was based in Moscow.
The organization mostly operated in the shadows, avoiding direct confrontation and conflict with other criminal organizations. Nevertheless, there were some major conflicts, such as the war war with Northway Faction and the 2018 Saint Petersburg gang crisis. There have also been attempts by Boreas Research Facility to eradicate the Syndicate's presence in northern Russia.
Etymology
The name of the organization is short for Raskolnikov's Syndicate, which is the name of the protagonist in Fyodor Dostoyevsky's novel «Crime and Punishment». Lebedev reportedly chose this name because of his interest in Russian literature. Some members of the organization, including Vukovic, did not know about the origins of the name until late 2019.