ABSTRACT
Immediately after the funeral, a temporary memorial sign is placed on the grave. It takes about a year before the installation of the tombstone. A year later, a monument is selected and put up. Tombstones of members of criminal gangs are a vital part of the culture of death in post-Soviet Russia. As a phenomenon, these gravestones appeared at the very end of the 1980s, when Perestroika was started in the USSR. Memorial days are never held at home but families generally have photographs of the dead people at home. There is a common practice of installing spontaneous roadside memorials at the place of death – often as a result of car accidents. These memorials have no legal standing and are generally limited to wreaths, mourning ribbons, flowers, and sometimes photographs. Common foods for commemoration are sweets, sandwiches, eggs, vodka and beer, and compotes. Days of Remembrance are held each year and incorporate the laying of flowers around the monuments.
