Russian Mafia- Why copy the Italians ?

[deleted]

Exactly, that's their strongpoint, not just using perfectly legal fronts but also ensuring a strong political and economical position in whatever region they target.
This way they're essentially washing over the American underground, and are possibly making a move into west Europe as well.
80% sounds like a gross exaggeration to my ears, but it's true that their current grip is very firm.
In terms of brutality - Yes, they're ruthless and know no ethics, unlike the Italian mafia or the Jewish mafia, though their bright side is that they don't target the regular John Doe walking down the street - They'd rather avoid unnecessary attention and save their resources for the big, profitable moves.

Another interesting mafia to look into is the Polish one, small but on the rise, and notorious for their trademark bomb hits.

The charismatic Italian-American mafia image is thanks to the movies, where as the reality was totally different. During the Cosa Nostra's prime days, they were less charismatic and more brutal...at least in Sicily. Toto Riina was in every way an anti-thesis of the "dapper don", John Gotti, and was known for his brutal execution methods. However, what sets the Russian mob apart from the Cosa Nostra of the heydays is its technically and efficiently ruthless MO. The technicality and efficiency of their operations stems from ex-KGB roots, which quite a significant number of them are. They have their tentacles lodged in Russian oil, drugs, prostitution, casinos, weapons trafficking, kidnapping, extortion and even mediate in transfers of Russian hockey players to the NHL. The post-Glasnost atmosphere has left these people with the wealth of destruction accumulated through the years of the iron curtain, and having easy access to this wealth have given them power over other cartels and organizations in the world. Truly, the Russian mob is to be very feared.