Russian Prison Tattoos. Some tattoos gave prisoners a social advantage, denoting their rank within the prison system. Symbols of a life of crime: The fading tattoos on Russia's gangland prisoners that can be read like a criminal. • Russian Criminal Tattoo Police Files is published by FUEL.
These tattoos became intricate works of art that detailed not only an inmate's crimes, but a good. Gradually, prisoners developed a secret form of communication with their tattoos, allowing them to establish. Bullen writes that the phenomenon of prison tattoos began in the imperial period, possibly inspired by meetings between Russian sailors and their tattooed British counterparts.
In the Soviet era, Russian prison tattoos were controlled by a gang known as the Thieves in Law.
These images were meant for prisoners who'd lost a card game I am Russian, went through Russian prison, "zona".
Any prisoner with these markings on his body is treated with a lot of respected and also feared by. Photographs of tattooed Soviet prisoners, held in police files until now, are about to be published for the first time. Some tattoos gave prisoners a social advantage, denoting their rank within the prison system.