Russia's 'Gangster Graveyards'

A bejeweled apparent member of the Uralmash gang depicted on a tombstone in the north of Yekaterinburg. 

Two apparent members of the Uralmash gang who died in a shoot-out in the early '90s. 

The graveyard is in a section of Yekaterinburg that was largely controlled by Uralmash, one of two gangs that gained notoriety in the Urals region city in the 1990s. Uralmash is also the name of a major factory in Yekaterinburg. 

At the other end of town, the gravestone of Mikhail Kuchin, reputed former leader of the Central Mafia gang, with Mercedes keys in hand. 

Local photographer Denis Saratov says the tradition of flaunting wealth in full-length tombstone portraits began with the Roma community in the city. 

Owned by very few in the Soviet Union, foreign cars of almost any kind became status symbols after its collapse in 1991. This man is pictured with his Toyota.  

A young man and his Audi in the Roma section of a Yekaterinburg cemetery. 

Expensive leather jackets were another status symbol in the early '90s in Russia. 

Some of the life-size tombstones show a devotion to the church. 

But more frequently, they emphasize the deceased's wealth and taste for the "good life." 

Most are artists' impressions based on photographs of the deceased. 

The etchings are made with lasers. 

The strikingly detailed tombstones can cost upwards of $15,000. 

Although the shoot-outs of the '90s are a distant memory for many in Yekaterinburg, the style favored by gangsters of the era is echoed by more recent markers for the graves of people from different walks of life. 

Saratov says the spectacular tombstones are "like a competition, who has the best and the biggest.... Just like in life."

Frozen roses alongside a gravestone. 

A young woman immortalized with golden jewels and a Lada.