VIDEO: Russian mafia boss ‘Grandpa Hasan’ shot dead by sniper in broad daylight on Moscow street

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One of Russia’s most powerful mob bosses was shot dead by a sniper in broad daylight in central Moscow on Wednesday, in a suspected contract killing.

Aslan Usoyan, 75, better known by his mob name “Ded [Grandpa] Hasan”, had survived at least two previous attempts on his life.

Media images of police swarming in the courtyard of a faded pre-revolutionary mansion and rumours of conflict between rival underworld gangs revived memories of the violent and chaotic Moscow that President Vladimir Putin has worked hard to present as long gone.

Usoyan, an ethnic Kurdish Yezidi originally from neighbouring Georgia, had built a vast criminal empire stretching across the former Soviet Union. He is believed to have been in a conflict for years with fellow crime boss Tariel Oniani, known as Taro, as the two battled for territory. Click below for full story-