Vasya Brilliant is a famous criminal personality who spent 35 years of his life in prison. There are many legends about him, the authenticity of which is impossible to verify today. They say that in the 1950s he was offered to become the head of one of the divisions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. This man became part of the prison history and was named a saint in the thieves' world.
early years
The real name of Vasya Brilliant is Vladimir Petrovich Babushkin. His biography began in the spring of 1928 in Astrakhan. Volodya's father died at the front, his mother could not bear the burdens that fell on her. The eight orphans left without parents were replaced by their grandmother.
Instead of getting an education, the 15-year-old boy began his career as a pickpocket. He had a special dexterity and loved to experiment. Often he pulled out a purse from the victim, emptied it and managed to return it to the owner.
In 1943, the teenager was caught, but punished conditionally - due to the youth of the thief and the difficult financial situation of a large family. However, he was soon convicted again, and this young criminal, nicknamed Chapaenok, received a real term.
On another theft from a fellow traveler on a train in 1950, the young man was caught, and a recidivist thief went to jail for as long as 10 years. This year the criminal was released for the last time. Most of his life - from a young age until his death, Babushkin spent in prison, each time increasing his term due to insubordination to the prison authorities.
A thief in law
When Babushkin was first imprisoned, there was a fierce struggle among prisoners in correctional institutions, called the "bitch war." It was a confrontation between representatives of the old thieves' law and those who were ready to take the path of correction and collaborated with the administration. The young man, who found himself in the midst of the war, could not stand aside. He quickly made a choice in favor of the old legalists and contributed to the fight against dissent. On account of his at least three deaths of "pounded" thieves. Once he set fire to one of the barracks.
Babushkin became an authoritative criminal thanks to his own character. He had a nondescript appearance, spoke calmly and rarely used the "fenya" in conversation, which the inmates used to communicate. He loved to read, he especially liked Russian classics.
But at the same time, the criminal obeyed the laws of the thieves' code. The fact that he was a thief played a role, and among thieves this work was considered especially honorable. He refused to cooperate with the guards, did not have a wife, home and savings. The thieves' authorities recognized Babushkin as equal. At one of the gatherings he was crowned and given the nickname Vasya Brilliant.
King of the underworld
Babushkin visited many Soviet prisons. After the Komi camps, he ended up in the Sverdlovsk region. Then the criminal was transferred to the Vladimir Central, and from there - to the infamous "White Swan" and Zlatoust. Vasya Brilliant refused to work everywhere and quarreled with the guards, following the laws of the criminal world. After all, he lived like a thief, and he could not think like a thief in any other way. The diamond was not afraid of anything or anyone. His position has always been clear and open. The offender tried three times to arrange an escape, but all attempts were unsuccessful and only increased the term.
Vasily communicated with the prisoners simply, without the "lordly" manners. He was an ascetic, and in every new place of imprisonment he was accompanied by books. Wherever the Diamond appeared, he established justice with a firm hand. They consulted with him, sent "little ones" with a request to resolve issues in the zone or outside it. Several crime bosses consider Babushkin to be the “godfather”. The eminent criminal has repeatedly raised prison riots with demands to improve the living conditions of prisoners.
Mysterious death
Vasily Babushkin's life ended in 1985. It is known that in the prison of Solikamsk, where Brilliant spent his last years, he met with high-ranking officials of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The conversation went on in a raised voice, the thief in law justly asked not to ascribe to the prisoners crimes that they did not commit. Fearing the cohesion of the convicts, Babushkin was kept in solitary confinement under the special control of state bodies.
The death report states: "acute heart failure", but many are inclined to believe that it was a murder. According to an unofficial version, the prison guards brutally beat Babushkin because of his unwillingness to stop a riot of prisoners in a neighboring village. The death of Brilliant shocked the criminal community, a wave of inmate riots swept through, the leadership of the prisons even had to call special forces.
His grave is located at the city cemetery of Solikamsk. Funds for the installation of the black granite monument were collected by the entire thieves' world. Indeed, with the departure of Vasya Brilliant, a whole criminal era ended, and he is considered the last true thief in law.
