One of the oldest Russian thieves in law, Vladimir Savoskin, known in criminal circles under the nickname Savoska, died in one of the Moscow clinics. The 64-year-old criminal general died in hospital last Saturday from heart disease. Savoskin was convicted five times and spent more than 15 years in prison. He was considered one of the most influential Russian authorities. His area of interest has recently been a large-scale racketeering operation, which was carried out by the Sokolniki organized crime group he supervised. In addition, the group controlled the banking, automobile and gambling businesses. Savoskin was the closest friend of another crime boss - Vyacheslav Ivankov, nicknamed Yaponchik, who is now serving a prison sentence in the United States. Recently, Savoskin has been mainly involved in resolving controversial issues that arose between criminal groups. Representatives of criminals throughout Russia considered him a kind of arbitrator.
