Vasya Brilliant: Life, Crimes, and Death of a Soviet Thief-in-Law

The story of Vasya Brilliant — a Soviet thief-in-law who spent his life behind bars, defended the thieves’ code, and became a legend of the criminal underworld.

Vasya Brilliant remains a legend and a pillar of the thieves’ code to this day. Consider this: he had 12 convictions, and the total prison terms he was sentenced to amounted to about 100 years¹. Brilliant was known and respected throughout the entire criminal world, and his authority was built not on notorious crimes, but exclusively on his flawless adherence to the unwritten thieves’ law.

Early Life and Becoming a Thief

The future leading thief of the USSR was born on May 18, 1928, in Astrakhan, into a working-class family. When his father went to the front in 1941, the streets became the boy’s main upbringing. Vladimir quickly found common ground with older Astrakhan criminals, who introduced him to the pre-revolutionary thieves’ world.

They taught Babushkin how to steal. His first crimes were not committed for prestige or status among youth, but to help his mother feed his brothers and sisters while his father was at war. He was first caught in 1943 for pickpocketing. The authorities did not punish him harshly and gave him a two-year suspended sentence.

But freedom did not change him. Soon after leaving court, Babushkin returned to theft and celebrated his “release” by stealing several wallets at the train station. Pickpocketing quickly seemed too primitive, and he attempted his first robbery. He was caught again, and his suspended sentence turned into four years in prison.

Escapes and the Alias “Ivanov”

Before reaching adulthood, Babushkin escaped from prison and fled from Astrakhan to Stavropol. Within weeks, he was caught again while stealing. As a repeat offender, he could not hope for leniency and faced a long sentence. But luck was on his side: at the time of arrest, Vladimir gave the name Vasily Ivanov², and the authorities did not verify it.

This trick was not random. Older criminals had long used the most common name in the Soviet Union — “Vasily Ivanov” — to confuse investigators. The ploy worked: under that alias, he received just one year. After serving it, he was arrested again for violating passport regulations.

Gradually, the nickname “Brilliant” stuck to him. He continued traveling across the Soviet Union, robbing markets and train stations. Eventually, he was caught in the town of Volsk for another pickpocketing. This time Saratov investigators quickly discovered his true identity and brought him to trial as a persistent recidivist. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

In the Years of the “Bitches’ Wars”

In 1950, Vladimir Babushkin was sent to the KarLag in Kazakhstan’s Karaganda region. He arrived in the midst of the so-called “Bitches’ Wars” — the brutal conflict between traditional thieves-in-law and those who cooperated with authorities. After the war, prisons began to fill with men who had frontline military experience, independent and desperate, unlike the typical political prisoners. Babushkin found himself at the heart of this confrontation.

Barely arriving in KarLag, the 22-year-old killed an opponent with a shiv during a dispute. To his 10 years, he added another 25³. But this murder was not an ordinary crime — it was committed while defending the thieves’ code. That earned him respect among influential criminals, and he was crowned as a vor v zakone (thief-in-law). From then on, Vladimir Babushkin disappeared, and Vasya Brilliant was born.

This was not his last killing. A few years later, he stabbed another defector and received an additional 25 years. New courts and sentences no longer frightened him. Prison had become his home, and freedom was not part of his plans.

Vasya Brilliant became one of the youngest thieves-in-law in the USSR, with an impeccable reputation. He defended the traditions of the thieves’ world with zeal and was demanding not only of others but of himself. According to the code, a thief should not perform any labor, as it was considered collaboration with the administration.

Conflict with Authorities

One of the duties of a thief-in-law was to resolve disputes and maintain order among criminals. Even in prisons, thieves managed to organize meetings. In the late 1950s, in a Vorkuta camp, Vasya Brilliant led a large gathering where several thieves accused of cooperating with authorities were beaten and stripped of their status.

When the prison administration confronted him, he responded bluntly:

“I organized gatherings, and I will continue to organize them. And if I find out who reports on us — I’ll cut your guts out.”

For this defiance, he was placed in solitary confinement for a month. But for Brilliant, it was merely a chance to rest away from the chaos of prison life.

The 1960s: Increased Pressure

In the 1960s, pressure on thieves-in-law intensified. Khrushchev believed they corrupted young offenders and turned them into hardened criminals. Authorities began isolating them from other prisoners, transferring them to the strictest-regime prisons and creating unbearable conditions to force them to renounce their status.

Breaking Brilliant’s will became the dream of every prison administration. But he refused to yield. He deliberately caused conflicts to disrupt discipline. Once, when being escorted to a hospital, he lay down on the floor and refused to walk. He shouted insults, threatened the guards, and drew the attention of other inmates. Unable to control him, the guards tied him up and dragged him back to his cell.

For this, he received an additional 15 years for “disrupting the work of correctional institutions” and “malicious hooliganism.” But a new sentence no longer mattered to him.

To understand the scale of his defiance: out of seven years spent in Vladimir Central — the strictest prison in the USSR — Brilliant spent one and a half years in solitary confinement for various conflicts with staff. At the time, no other thief-in-law had demonstrated such unyielding behavior.

The Changing Criminal World

By the late 1970s, the Soviet underworld had changed dramatically. Professional criminals were surrounded by new temptations and ways to make money. The ascetic lifestyle of the thieves’ code no longer appealed to many. A new class of “workshop bosses” — underground millionaires — emerged. They ran illegal factories and were unwilling to involve the police, making them perfect targets for extortion.

The new generation of criminals grew wealthy and enjoyed luxury. Meanwhile, the old-school thief-in-law who spent his life in prison seemed like an anachronism. Vasya Brilliant, however, remained true to tradition. He owned no property, refused to submit to authorities, and frequently ended up in solitary confinement. Still, he was regarded as one of the most respected thieves in the country.

Death in the “White Swan”

In the summer of 1985, Babushkin was transferred to the notorious “White Swan” prison in Solikamsk⁴. Immediately upon arrival, he clashed with the administration, refusing to clean his cell. A report was filed, and he was placed in solitary. On June 25, 1985, the 57-year-old was found dead.

The official conclusion stated that he died of an aortic rupture. But many refused to believe it. Rumors spread that he was killed by a “bitch” planted in his cell by the administration. Supporting this version were the broken ribs found on his body — something that could have resulted either from a beating or from resuscitation attempts.

Thus ended the life of Vasya Brilliant, one of the most principled thieves-in-law of the 20th century.