Vassily Lipanovsky

Vassily (Vasha, Vasya) is Alexi's erstwhile boss, sworn-brother and best friend. They have a decidedly codependant bromance, but Vasha is still not privy to the deepest secrets his friend holds - probably half of the appeal in hanging around with him.

Background
At 41, Vasha is the eldest son of his family, and the only remaining child of his parents, hard-working Ukranian Jews who owned and operated several legal businesses, and laundered money for Sergei, the original Vor v Zakone leader of the Yakinov Group. Vasha and his siblings grew up in modest surrounds: their parents didn’t come into money until the children were older, though none of them ever resented their hard Brooklyn upbringing greatly.

All three Lipanovsky brothers and Alexi were sponsored by Sergei as part of his program to recruit and train the children of affiliated families, but only Vasha continued to show enough promise to continue. In the end, Anton Lipanovsky and Nick Lipanovsky became street thugs, and both died young: Anton died in a shootout at twenty, while Nick was killed in a jail brawl between rival prison gangs, barely eighteen. His older sister Mariya’s death, and the death of her family, has left Vasha the lone survivor of his clan.

Despite being charming and often funny, Vasha is a hard man, and a predator at heart: his typical geniality masks his ruthlessness, born of a lifetime in dangerous business and familial loss. He cuts a hard bargain, and has no qualms about killing or maiming people, or using them as pawns for the sake of his ambition if they do not conform to his fairly narrow perception of worthiness. He was practically raised alongside Alexi, and the two formed a strong bond of mutual respect, shared ambition, trust, and even genuine friendship. Vasha is occasionally concerned about his friend’s tendency to psychopathic rage, though not on any moral grounds, and has a preoccupation with his (apparent) bachelor status, believing that the better part of his psychopathology is sexual repression. Vasha steadies his violent tempers when he can, and admires his skill at interrogation and intimidation, often participating as his counterbalance with his natural gifts for diplomacy, wheedling, and swindling people.

By this age, Vasha sits on a fortune in stocks and savings, as well as earning income from fencing firearms, housing illegal immigrants, drugs and knock-offs of expensive designer goods. He lives big and has a love of electronic gadgets, but mostly uses his money to fund important operations, and a small charity to feed homeless people in the Brighton Beach area: admittedly, mostly for cover, so that he looks good.

The Missed Cue
When they discovered their old boss' vampiric nature, Vasha was initially slow to catch on. When he did, however, he trusted Alexi enough to follow his lead in deposing the old king and murdering him. Alexi was the initial candidate for Yakinov leadership, but he voted in favour of Vasha, who is the far more talented and charismatic businessman of the two. Instead, Alexi left New York to begin a splinter operation in Oakland. The old Odessa Mafia brothers are both deeply ambitious, and while Vasha is nominally Alexi's boss, they remain fundamentally equal in their dealings with each other as they work towards the same common goal - The World According to Alexi and Vassily.

Vasha has visited The Cue only once so far, for his birthday on the 14th of Feburary. He is deeply suspicious of Alexi's orientation now that he has learnt that Alexi is cohabiting with his 'snitch', but so far, is taking it at face value - down that road, madness lies.

Links
Aleksander Sokolsky

The Yakinov Group