Composition

Aside from the ethnic Russian crime groups, there are large multi ethnic organizations as well as other very large and influential single ethnic groups such as Chechens, Ukrainians, Azeris, Georgians and so on. Chechens make up a disproportionate amount of Russian mafia members inside Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus, but only play a small role in the Russian Mafia's overseas membership.
The majority of organized crime groups and their members within Russia are ethnically Russian. Furthermore, the majority of violent organized crime groups and their members are also ethnically Russian within Russia’s borders. Ethnic Russian crime groups operate within every major Russian city and consist of small time gangs involved in burglaries to high crime such as drug and weapons smuggling. Ethnic Russian crime groups consist of ex KGB officers, ex Spetznaz members, businessmen, Afghan war vets and many other former government employed individuals as well as common thugs and criminals. Even though many of the Russian mobsters covered in western media have Jewish ancestry, Russian Jews within Russia represent a small fraction of the criminals involved in organized crime. However, many have managed to reach high rankings inside the different organized crime groups within Russia.
NOTE: The amount of Russian Jews involved in organized crime outside of Russia is much higher than within Russia. A high percentage of Russian emigres are Jewish and as a result Russian organized crime groups within the United states, Israel and Europe have a high number of Jewish members.
The Russian Mafia also has a multitude of other nationalities such as Ukrainians, Belarusians, Armenians (tied to the Armenian Power gang), Moldovans, Kazakhs, Uzbeks, Georgians, Dagestanis, Azeris, and others. Additionally, countries such as Armenia, Georgia, Ukraine, Estonia, Lithuania, Belarus, and Moldova have their own mafia organizations which have extensive links to the Russian mafia.