Hello and welcome back once again.

Today is another in my series of character interviews. This one with Oleg Mironov, one of Danil Burlomov’s closest associates.

IW: However did you get involved with Danil Burlomov?

Oleg: We were in the same Spetsnatz unit. Did a bunch of missions together. It was only natural that I would be involved with his enterprise.

IW: You mean his criminal enterprise.

Oleg: If that’s what you want to call it.

IW: What else is there to call it?

Oleg: A business that provides the marketplace what it wants. That’s what you call it.

IW: A business that survives off the pain and misery of other people. How do you justify that?

Oleg: The only difference between us and the government is we’re organized. Besides, the news media survives off the misery of people, doesn’t it?

IW: The news media merely reports on it, they don’t create it.

Oleg: They still profit from it don’t they? Think about it for a minute. Plane lands safely doesn’t sell many headlines does it? Plane crashes or had gone missing all aboard feared dead, now that sells newspapers and gets clicks on the internet. The old media proverb, if it bleeds it leads.

IW: They don’t cause the bleeding like you and others like you do.

Oleg: If someone is fool enough to get themselves involved with drugs, or get themselves behind the eight ball with gambling debt, who’s fault is that? We all make our choices, don’t we?

IW: Somebody kidnapped and sold into the sex trade didn’t make that choice.

Oleg: We provide them with protection and a safe place to conduct business. If they did it on their own, on a street corner, they’d be vulnerable to guys like the Green River Killer.

IW: And what if they want out of the trade, what if they want to live a productive life?

Oleg: They’re producing for us. That’s the life they lead.

And with that Oleg walked out of the interview. He said something about meeting with his boss. To read him in action check out the book below: