Igor Leonidovich Mangushev (‹See Tfd›Russian: Игорь Леонидович Мангушев; 16 August 1986 – 8 February 2023),[1] also known by his radio call sign Bereg (‹See Tfd›Russian: Берег), was a Russian nationalist, militia fighter, mercenary leader, and political advisor.[2] He was the founder of E.N.O.T. Corp. and Svetlaya Rus organization.
Igor Leonidovich Mangushev | |
|---|---|
Игорь Леонидович Мангушев | |
 Mangushev in Ukraine | |
| Born | 16 August 1986 Russia |
| Died | 8 February 2023 (aged 36) Stakhanov, Ukraine |
| Cause of death | Gunshot |
| Occupation(s) | Mercenary, militia fighter, political advisor |
| Years active | 2009–2023 |
| Employer | Russian people's militias in Ukraine |
| Organization(s) | Svetlaya Rus E.N.O.T. Corp. |
| Call sign | Bereg (‹See Tfd›Russian: Берег) |
Mangushev was shot to death in February 2023 while in Luhansk.
Life before the Russo-Ukrainian war
Mangushev was a neo-nazi[3] and a Russian nationalist,[4][5] and he founded the nationalist organization Svetlaya Rus (‹See Tfd›Russian: Светлая Русь) in late 2009.[6] Membership in the group was initially drawn from the Russian Orthodox Church-aligned Narodny Sobor movement, as well as various Russian patriotic movements.[6] Mangushev, in his role leading Svetlaya Rus, coordinated with police and conducted raids on illegal migrants living within unlicensed dwellings in the Russian Federation. Following the raids, Mangushev would contact Russian police, who would take note of the illegal migrants, fingerprint them, and typically release them.[7][8] His group was among the first such public-private partnerships in Russia to conduct these sorts of operations following the 2011 arrest of Russian pilots in Tajikistan.[6]
By 2012, Mangushev's connections with militarizing patriotic groups in Russia had strengthened, and he founded and took the helm of E.N.O.T. (‹See Tfd›Russian: Енот),[8][9] which was founded to coordinate Russia's nascent militarized patriotic movement. That year, the group provided military training at a gathering of right-wing militiamen to over 450 individuals, earning 1,500,000 ₽ ($86449 international dollars in 2012) over the course of the three-day event.[8]
According to documents leaked by Anonymous, Mangushev had become an employee of the Internet Research Agency by 2013.[10] Kommersant reported in 2015 that Mangushev had written strategic analyses for various Russian government agencies prior to the 2014 onset of the Russo-Ukrainian War.[6]
Military career and mercenary work
Mangushev worked as captain in the Luhansk People's Militia,[2] and as a mercenary.[4] Through E.N.O.T. Corp., he deployed as a fighter in the Russo-Ukrainian War beginning in 2014.[11][9] Mangushev was an active proponent of the formation and use of private military companies in the war, seeing them as a way to unify the citizens' militias with a more structured organization that could provide documentation of the militia's military activities.[6]
During the Russian Invasion of Ukraine, Mangushev led Russia's anti-drone platoon,[12] used the call sign Bereg,[13] and worked as a political strategist for mercenary company owner Yevgeny Prigozhin.[4] The strategy work included disinformation efforts,[12] and the organisation of agent provocateurs to work against Lyubov Sobol during the 2019 Moscow City Duma election.[14] He claimed to be the inventor of the Z (military symbol),[13][15] and was a vocal proponent of the war, and critic of some Russian military leaders who he perceived as hesitant and making slow progress in the war.[11][5] He was often photographed posing with a Nazi salute.[13]
In August 2022, a video circulated showing him appearing on a stage in a Russian nightclub,[11] holding the skull that he claimed was from a Ukrainian soldier who died in the Azovstal Iron and Steel Works in Mariupol.[4][16] While on stage, he performed a stand-up comedy routine, during which he stated that he sought the destruction of Ukraine as a nation-state and stated that Russia's goal in the invasion of Ukraine was to destroy the Ukrainian national idea.[15]
Shooting, death and aftermath
On the night of 4 February 2023, at a checkpoint in Stakhanov, Mangushev was shot in the back of the head.[2] At the time, he had been stationed in Kadiivka as a soldier in the Russo-Ukrainian War.[4] He was struck by a 9mm bullet at close range,[4] before being taken to a hospital in Stakhabov.[13] He died in the hospital on 8 February 2023, at the age of 36.[12]
His wife described his death as an execution,[4] and his friends have called for an official investigation into his death.[12] British political scientist Mark Galeotti described the shooting as a "hit",[13] while Mangushev's widow alleged that medical care was being intentionally withheld from her husband in the days between the shooting and his death.[17]
See also
References
- ^ "Мангушев Игорь Леонидович / Мангушев Ігор Леонідович / Mangushev Igor Leonidovich". Center for Research of Signs of Crimes against the National Security of Ukraine, Peace, Humanity, and the International Law. 8 February 2023.
- ^ a b c "Умер командир подразделения Народной милиции ЛНР Мангушев" (in Russian). RIA Novosti. 8 February 2023.
- ^ "Wife of neo-Nazi Russian army captain calls husband's wound "failed execution attempt"". The Insider (website) (in Russian). 6 February 2023. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Notorious Russian nationalist Igor Mangushev shot dead in Ukraine". BBC News. 8 February 2023. Retrieved 8 February 2023.
- ^ a b Seddon, Max; Ivanova, Polina (18 March 2022). "Propaganda war rages as Russians face huge pressure to back invasion". Financial Times. Retrieved 8 February 2023.
- ^ a b c d e Туманов, Григорий (23 March 2015). "Послевоенные действия". Kommersant (in Russian).
- ^ "The Man in Orange". The New Times. 2014 – via European Press Prize.
- ^ a b c Полухина, Юлия (22 February 2019). "«Еноты» в клетке: Как участники событий в Крыму и на Донбассе потеряли кураторов, деньги и свободу". Novaya Gazeta (in Russian).
- ^ a b Goble, Paul. "Russian Nationalist Group, Acting as a Private Military Company, Worries Kremlin". Jamestown Foundation. Retrieved 8 February 2023.
- ^ Коротков, Денис (15 December 2019). "Выездное обслуживание: кто и как срывал выборы в Мосгордуму". Novaya Gazeta.
- ^ a b c Motyčková, Kateřina; Klapal, Ondřej (8 February 2023). "Kritik ruské armády a Prigožinův spojenec průstřel hlavy nepřežil". Seznam Zprávy. Retrieved 8 February 2023.
- ^ a b c d "Pro-War Russian Nationalist 'Executed' in Eastern Ukraine". The Moscow Times. 8 February 2023. Retrieved 8 February 2023.
- ^ a b c d e Vasilyeva, Nataliya (5 February 2023). "Wagner-linked mercenary who claimed to have originated 'Z' war symbol shot in 'warning hit'". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 8 February 2023.
- ^ "Nationalist Igor Mangushev dies after being shot in back of head. His wife says he was deliberately murdered". The Insider (website) (in Russian). 8 February 2023. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
- ^ a b "Создатель ЧВК «ЕНОТ» с черепом в руках заявил, что все украинцы должны быть убиты. По его словам, это череп защитника «Азовстали»". The Insider. 28 August 2022. Retrieved 8 February 2023.
- ^ "Russian mercenary plays with Ukrainian soldier's skull - watch". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 8 February 2023.
- ^ Davis, Barney (8 February 2023). "Igor Mangushev: Russian who waved Ukrainian skull on stage dies days after being shot". Evening Standard.
