ATHENS: Greece has arrested a suspected crime boss with the underworld title of “vor v zakone” — or thief in law — wanted by Russia under an Interpol red notice, police officials said on Wednesday.
Europe has stepped up its fight against Russian-speaking organized crime groups since the assassination of a clan leader in 2013 in Moscow triggered a power struggle among the crime network.
Europol, the EU-wide police liaison agency, says the “vory v zakone” (thieves in law) network is a tightly-structured type of criminal organization originating in the underworld of the Soviet Union, which fell apart in 1991.
Greek police arrested the 51-year old Georgian, whose name has not been released, on Tuesday after receiving a tipoff that he was planning to travel to Athens. A red notice had been issued by Interpol against him at the request of Russia.
He was arrested at a restaurant in central Athens where he had been attending a dinner with 13 other men, among them a 58-year old man who was later also arrested for gun possession.
A third man was arrested for lacking a residence permit and refusing to undergo an identity check.
The other men at the dinner were briefly detained and then freed.
Greek police arrest suspected crime boss sought by Russia
https://arab.news/wnhbu
Greek police arrest suspected crime boss sought by Russia
- Europol says the “vory v zakone” (thieves in law) network is a tightly-structured type of criminal organization
- Greek police arrested the 51-year old Georgian at a restaurant in central Athens
NASA astronaut stuck in space for nine months retires
- Suni Williams stepped down from her post on December 27 — making her ill-fated mission her last journey to space
- During her career, Williams logged 608 days in space — the second most cumulative time in space by a NASA astronaut
WASHINGTON, United States: A NASA astronaut who was stuck in space for nine months because of problems with her spacecraft has retired after 27 years of service, the space agency said Tuesday.
Suni Williams stepped down from her post on December 27 — making her ill-fated mission her last journey to space.
Williams and fellow astronaut Barry “Butch” Wilmore set out on an eight-day mission in June 2024 to test fly Boeing’s new Starliner capsule on its first crewed mission when they were unexpectedly marooned.
Despite the incident, Williams on Tuesday called her time with NASA “an incredible honor.”
“Anyone who knows me knows that space is my absolute favorite place to be,” she said in a statement.
Boeing’s new Starliner developed propulsion issues while Williams and Wilmore were traveling to the International Space Station (ISS) and it was deemed unfit to fly back.
The technical problems prompted NASA to entrust the return of their astronauts to Elon Musk’s SpaceX, snubbing Boeing.
The two veteran astronauts finally returned safely back to Earth with SpaceX in March 2025. Wilmore announced his retirement in August that same year.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said in a statement on Tuesday that Williams had been a “trailblazer in human spaceflight,” adding that she shaped the “future of exploration through her leadership aboard the space station” and paved the way for commercial missions to low Earth orbit.
During her career, Williams logged 608 days in space — the second most cumulative time in space by a NASA astronaut, the agency said.
She also ranks sixth on the list of longest single spaceflights by an American due to the Starliner incident, NASA added.
Williams has completed nine spacewalks totaling 62 hours, the most spacewalk time by a woman and fourth-most on the all-time cumulative spacewalk duration list.
