LONDON -- As Queen Elizabeth II visits Russia this week, the kings and queens of Moscow's elite entrepreneurial class will be lording it up in Britain.


Russia's new capitalists are pouring into the country. Home Office figures show that last year 105,100 people came from the former Soviet Union, compared to 71,300 in 1992, 55,100 in 1991 and 10 years ago -- a mere 7,500.


Far from being the economic immigrants the West feared would flood in after the collapse of communism, many are well-heeled consumers more than able to pay their way.


"Rich Russians come here for business, schools for their children and to buy property. They spend a lot of time here, but tend to continue to live in Moscow," said Natasha Chouvaeva, editor of London Courier, a new Russian-language monthly for Russians living in London.


"They're good spenders," said the French manager of a club for Russians on a luxury boat moored on the Thames, whom the clients call "Blondie."


"They don't just buy one shot of vodka, but a whole bottle," she said. At ?52 ($82) for a bottle of vodka and ?100 for a bottle of champagne, Blondie's nightclub is not cheap.


The popular image of Russians as impoverished babushkas queuing for bread is gradually being replaced with the new image of a nouveau riche -- an aggressive army of consumers invading London shops armed with suitcases of cash.


Over the last six months, rich Russians have made national headlines buying up London properties, sending their children to fee-paying schools and eating at expensive restaurants.


An editorial in The Times said new Russian capitalists were "swaggering tycoons" and welcomed the wealth they brought.


But it warned: "More vigilance is needed, however, in keeping out the growing number of criminals and gangland bosses from the violent and growing East European underworld."


Britain's National Criminal Intelligence Service says cash from drugs, fraud and theft in Russia moved to Britain in about 200 suspicious transactions in the last two years.


It estimates some individual transactions to be worth millions of dollars -- the total ran into hundreds of millions.


"We've identified money-laundering activity, sums of money from Russia, going through our financial system and going back to Russia or to purchasing property," said an NCIS spokeswoman.


Already three gangland killings have taken place in Britain in the last two years which have been linked with the burgeoning criminal underworld of the former Soviet Union.


Many Russians in London say the reports are exaggerated. "Today Russians are not only coming to Britain, they are going everywhere," said Chouvaeva.


"Most of them are ordinary people and many of them live in fear of being deported by the Home Office," she said, adding that they were tired of being associated with the Russian mafia.


In 74 years of communism, foreign travel for Soviet citizens was restricted. Few Russians had passports unless they were diplomats, trade representatives or had been rigorously vetted.


Virtually the only travellers were ?migr?s, who usually expected never to be allowed back, and people who married foreigners. Traditionally Russians abroad headed for the ?migr? communities in Israel, Paris or New York's Brighton Beach.


The recent influx has changed the face of London. Signs in Russian outside shops advertise videos, television sets and electronic equipment for use in the former Soviet Union.


The London Courier advises Russians, most of whom have never been abroad, how to get by in London. "We print articles with advice on how to find a job, how to write a CV, personal taxes," said Chouvaeva.


Few jobs are open to Russians because future employers must show that a British citizen cannot do the job.


The most popular work is in "tele-sales," selling to firms in Russia over the telephone -- ideal for homesick Russians who can phone home free.


The most successful Russians work as commodities and metals traders or in big newly privatized oil companies.


"They've homed in on (fashionable) Highgate and Hampstead," said real estate agent Barry Morgan of Glentree Estates.


This year Morgan said 15 to 20 percent of exclusive properties selling at up to ?2 million were sold mainly to rich businessmen from the former Soviet bloc.


"They are not bringing in as much wealth as the Arabs in the 70s who bought up everything, but Russian wealth is the next wave of new wealth coming into the country," Morgan said.