The purpose of this project was to show the relationship between organized crime and members of Vladimir Putin’s inner circle and the impact of the crossover of organized crime tactics and behavior to officials of the Russian government. To show this, this thesis looks at the ways in which four specific members of Vladimir Putin’s inner circle, Igor Sechin, Sergei Glazyev, Viktor Zolotov, and Nikolai Patrushev, are involved in illegal activity that resembles the kind of actions that are perpetrated by organized crime groups and how their behavior is similar to that of the leaders of these groups. This thesis aims to reveal the extent of the “mafia state” and show the depth of corruption
