Blat (term) - Russian Prison

Russian Prison

See also: Russian Bratva Structure
Definition

In the world of Russian prisons blatnoi or blatnoy (Cyrillic: блатной) (plural: blatnyie) is one of the criminal castes and is considered the highest one of four, others being muzhyk, kozel, and petukh. Blatnyie are professional criminals and do not call themselves blatnoi, instead they use words such as arestant (arrested), bratva (brother), bosyak (barefoot), zhulik (hooligan), putyovy (traveller), and others. Words such as zhygan and people has grown to be archaic.

Requirements

A life in prison is a stage requirement for every respected criminal. Doing a crime does not necessarily get a criminal accepted in the criminal underworld. Any relations with authorities even coincidental, particularly political affiliation (such as political parties, organizations), closes the door for a person to the "blatnoi" (criminal) world. Beside his/her "blank resume" the candidate to blatnoi must adhere to the "correct understandings" (ponyatiy) which may change with time.

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