Aleksandr Vasiliev

Aleksandr "Aleks" Vasiliev is a member of Bratva Oktyabrya and a Vor v Zakoke, currently at the rank of Brigidir. He manages Ulyanov's, which he uses as a front for various illegal activities.

Early Life
Aleksandr Vasiliev was born in 1954, to two mid-ranking officials in the Soviet government; he did well in school, excelled socially, and lived what could only be described as an average life. When he turned 18, instead of going to college or allowing himself to be drafted into the Army for semi-compilatory service, Aleks enlisted in the KGB, and was stationed as a prison guard.

With the KGB
As a young KGB officer, Aleks showed promise in the area of information extraction; he was a master at mind games and manipulation, able to get those around him to say almost anything. Accordingly, he was offered to train as a prison interrogator - something he excelled at, and was eventually transferred to the USSR's infamous "Penal Colony Number 6", colloquially called "Black Dolphin Prison."

At Black Dolphin, Aleks was given almost free reign to interrogate and manipulate prisoners, and came toe-to-toe with the USSR's most infamous crime figures. Each time, however, Aleks came out on top; he got hundreds of signed "confessions", and seemed to have a promising career ahead of him.

Incarceration
Aleks' exceptional ability was perhaps the beginning of what could have been his downfall; he aroused envy and fear from his commanding officers, who worried he would replace them. In 1979, just seven years after joining the KGB, Aleks was arrested for connections with the Vor v Zakoke; something that, although he had, was fairly common among officers stationed at high-profile Soviet prisons. Regardless, he was tried by kangaroo court, and thrown among the very prisoners he once tortured.

As a prisoner of the KGB, Aleks was put on the receiving end of various torture methods, both physical and mental. Although he "snapped" emotionally, he refused to give up the names and other bits of information about the various Vory he knew; this earned him the favor of the Vory v Zakone, and within three years he had undergone the ritual process of renouncing the Soviet government and joining the Vory as a low-ranked prison thug.

By the time he was released in 2000, Aleks had risen to be a trusted lieutenant of the Vory.

Post-Release
Upon release, Aleks illegally immigrated to America, specifically New York City, where his prison-molded sociopathic nature and goal-oriented methods of success attracted the attention of Bratva Oktyabrya (the very organization that had smuggled him in). Although Aleks was, by the Law of Thieves, allowed to be freed from the Thieves' World upon his release from prison, he opted to join Oktyabrya, and would spend the next 20 years working for them.

Aleks would further go onto marry; not out of love, rather the need for a cover identity to hide his sociopathic tendencies. Despite this, he has no (known) children, and considers his wife only a necessity for his civilian identity.

Appearance
Aleks is a well-groomed, older man; his hair has long paled and his skin is not as taut as it used to be, but he maintains a dignified appearance. He is a fan of suits, and is always seen wearing at least a dress shirt and trousers, if not a blazer as well. Most of all, however, Aleks bears numerous scars and marks from his time being tortured by the Soviet government; he is covered in them, more so than even his prison tattoos.

Personality
Appearing normal except for a pair of emotionless eyes that seem to stare right through those unlucky enough to fall under their gaze, Aleksandr Vasiliev is, in truth, a quantifiable sociopath. He is broken, and "human" in only race, but due to his carefully crafted persona, few realize that until after it is too late.