The Ghosts of the Bloody Nineties: Shall Tyumen Sink Once More into the Abyss of Crime?

Tyumen in those wretched nineties—Lord help us—was a veritable capital of crime, not merely for its own province but for the frozen wastes of KhMAO and YaNAO. It was a breeding ground for the most heinous gangs, a sanctuary for the so-called 'Thieves-in-Law,' and in certain quarters, a realm of absolute anarchy. Scarcely a week passed without the bells tolling for a murder, a rapine, or a bold robbery in broad daylight.

Today, the town presents a facade of utmost prosperity—smooth carriages of roads, towering new edifices, and bustling markets. Yet, beneath this polished veneer lies a grim and ceaseless struggle. I have spoken with certain gentlemen of the law, who, under the veil of anonymity, revealed how they have thwarted the rise of new criminal syndicates and the perils that still lurk in the fog.

The 'Ten', Hans, and Zyatek

Chief among these dens of iniquity was the 'Ten' gang, a name inextricably linked to one Yuri Tishenkov, known in the rookeries as 'Hans.' A man of cold calculation, Hans spent the early nineties practicing the art of racketeering, squeezing the local tradesmen for tribute. He gathered around him the most unscrupulous rogues of the age—men who delighted in bruising flesh and breaking spirits to line their pockets.

Hans possessed a devil's luck, surviving two attempts upon his life and outliving nearly all his confederates. However, his star waned when he committed the cardinal sin of the underworld: he 'ordered' the death of one of his own. On the 11th of November, 2009, the handcuffs finally clicked shut. It appeared a hired assassin, one Sergei Dugin, had struck a bargain with the detectives and betrayed the old rogue.

By a cruel twist of fate, the trial of Hans took place on the 8th of December, 2010—precisely nine years after the murder of Vladimir Garmanov. The once-mighty sovereign of Tyumen's underworld was sentenced to twelve years of hard labour. It is whispered that prior to his fall, he had crossed paths with the infamous 'Yaponchik,' resulting in the loss of his coveted status as a 'Thief-in-Law.'

> Hans walked free in 2021 and has since vanished from the police blotters. My sources suggest he has abandoned the life of crime and now dwells in quiet seclusion in a cottage on the city's edge.

Another figure of that dark era, Vladimir Zyatkov, met a more sudden end. A man of Ishim and a 'Thief-in-Law' in his own right, he avoided the 'Ten' despite his friendship with Hans, spending his days in Surgut. There, in September 2021, he perished under most peculiar circumstances: the pleasure boat upon which he resided collided with a barge, sending Zyatkov and three others to a watery grave. Other lords of the nineties have fled to the smog of Moscow or the mists of St. Petersburg. Thus, the old guard is gone—either dead, exiled, or pretending to be honest men.

The 'Word of the Lad'

There was a tremor of fear recently that the 'Kazan Phenomenon'—the rise of juvenile gangs—might infect Tyumen, spurred on by the notoriety of a popular serial. Indeed, several bands of street urchins decided to live by the 'Code' of the criminals. But the constabulary was not found sleeping.

> "Following the craze of this serial, several potential gangs emerged. These lads fancied themselves kings of the street, beating other children and preaching a gospel of crime," an insider from the force confided. "We acted with haste. Every one of these young ruffians was placed upon the police register and given a stern lecture in the ways of morality."

Indeed, these aggressive youths surface from time to time, but they are swiftly quieted. Take, for instance, the brawl in the 'Zvezdny' quarter, where lads assaulted grown men for the smallest of slights. The police, moving with precision, identified the culprits, who were subsequently forced to offer their apologies upon camera.

"Their names are etched into our special files," the insider added. "Should they stray again, they shall be the first the sergeant visits. We have learned that it is far easier to nip a gang in the bud than to prune it once it has grown into a thicket of thorns."

Unfriendly Neighbours

For years, ethnic factions were a thorn in the side of the detectives. The tide turned after a bloody massacre on the 29th of May, 2014, near the City Hospital. A quarrel in the 'Baku' cafe erupted into a knife-fight; one man breathed his last in the hospital's receiving ward. Moments later, the wounded opponent was brought in, only to be fallen upon by the kin of the deceased in a frenzy of revenge.

> "Nasimi Amiraslanov and Bahruz Nabiyev were condemned to fifteen and sixteen years of hard labour, though the sentence was passed in absentia, as both fled across the border," noted the source. "The authorities learned their lesson. Surveillance of foreigners has been tightened tenfold. Raids are now a common occurrence, and the police possess the power to deport offenders with a single stroke of the pen. One-way tickets to their homelands are being issued with alarming frequency."

Furthermore, the law has finally subdued the Gypsy settlement in the river districts. In the nineties, that place was a den of thieves and drug-peddlers where honest men feared to tread even at high noon. Now, the heavy hand of the law has sent the ringleaders to the hulks, and the rest have been warned that the days of lawlessness are over.

The Word of the Law

At the Ministry of Internal Affairs, General Alexander Smirnov has declared the peace to be stable. He asserts that the detection rate for heinous crimes—murders and ravishments—has nearly reached a hundred per cent.

The ledger confirms this. In the year 2025, murders fell by 14.1%, grievous assaults by 12.8%, and robberies by nearly a third. While the total number of registered crimes rose by a sliver of 4%, the General contends this is merely a sign of a more vigilant force, sniffing out crimes that once went unnoticed.

In my estimation, and that of the men in blue, the 'Bloody Nineties' shall not return to Tyumen. The times have shifted, the streets are scrubbed, and the people—thank Heavens—have grown weary of the slaughter.