Skull-waving neo-Nazi Russian mercenary gets shot in head in execution-style attack
Sun, February 5, 2023
Igor Mangushev, a Russian mercenary and propagandist
According to reports circulating on social media, Mangushev was shot in the head at close range, execution-style, at a checkpoint in the Russian-occupied part of Luhansk Oblast.
Mangushev (call sign “Bereg”) was sent to the neurosurgery department of one of the hospitals in Kadiivka (which the Russians call Stakhanov) with a gunshot wound.
Read also: A look at the trio who convinced Putin to invade
“So, performing with someone else’s skull has brought (Mangushev) misfortune,” Kazanskyi wrote.
“Mangushev got shot through his own skull. He is still alive, but with such an injury, the prospects are not very good.”
According to the journalist, “karma caught up” with Mangushev, and it was soldiers of Chechen warlord Ramzan Kadyrov who most likely shot the Russian mercenary.
“The details are still uncertain, but they say there is a reason to shout ‘Akhmat-sila!’” Kazanskyi said, quoting what Mangushev’s attackers are reported to have cried during the shooting.
ПриZрак Новороссии/Telegram
Russian sources also confirmed that an “accident” happened to the mercenary. Russian authorities declined to release more information about the attack, but Russian milbloggers condemned the attack and speculated that Mangushev may have been on his knees and shot from behind.
“Information from the doctors: it was made from a short-barreled weapon, a bullet of approximately 9 mm, close-up, occipital-parietal region, wound channel from the back down at 45 degrees,” the Russians quoted one of the invaders who fought in the same unit as Bereg.
Mangushev is the leader of the neo-Nazi movement “Light Rus”. He is also considered the creator of PMC “Raccoon”, which closely cooperated with Russia’s FSB security service.
Read also: Tactics of Wagner PMC mercenaries in Ukraine revealed in intelligence report – CNN
The U.S. think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW), quoting a Western expert, noted that Mangushev has ties to Wagner Group and that an attack against Mangushev may have been a message to the Wagner Group and its financier, Yevgeny Prigozhin.
During his shameful “skull brandishing” speech in the summer of 2022, Mangushev repeated the stereotypes of Russian propaganda and called for the genocide of Ukrainians.
The propagandist stated that the Russian Federation “is not at war with people, but with the idea” of Ukraine’s existence, and “all bearers of this idea must be destroyed.”
The New Voice of Ukraine
A Russian officer who brandished the skull of a Ukrainian soldier at a heavy metal concert was shot in an 'execution-style' hit: report
Joshua Zitser
Mon, February 6, 2023
A view of a damaged building in the Luhansk region.
Joshua Zitser
Mon, February 6, 2023
A view of a damaged building in the Luhansk region.
STRINGER/AFP via Getty Images
A Russian captain was shot "execution-style" in the head on Saturday, according to reports.
Igor Mangushev was filmed last year brandishing the supposed skull of a slain Ukrainian soldier.
An expert said the "hit" on Mangushev may have been a proxy attack on the head of the Wagner Group.
A captain in the Russian army, who previously worked as a propagandist, was shot in the head at close range in Ukraine over the weekend, according to reports.
British newspaper The Telegraph reported that Igor Mangushev was taken to a hospital in the town of Stakhanov early Saturday with a "close range" gunshot wound to the head.
According to The New Voice of Ukraine, citing unverified doctors' reports, Mangushev was shot "execution-stye" at a checkpoint in the Russian-occupied region of Luhansk Oblast.
He survived but is now being treated for the gunshot wound by a neurosurgery department at a hospital in Kaddivka, in eastern Ukraine, the outlet said.
The Institute for the Study of War, an American think tank, said on Saturday that Mangushev had ties to the private military contractor the Wagner Group.
It also noted that Mangushev gained notoriety for a stunt involving the skull of what he said was a Ukrainian soldier who had died at the Azovstal plant in Mariupol.
Last summer, Mangushev was filmed brandishing the skull during a heavy metal concert. Per The New Voice of Ukraine, during the recording he called for the destruction of all those who supported the existence of Ukraine.
According to MailOnline, Mangushev has repeatedly called for the murder of Ukrainian civilians in Telegram posts.
The Daily Beast reported that Mangushev also had links to neo-Nazi groups.
Images released on Telegram appear to show a bandaged Mangushev covered in blood, lying on a hospital bed.
The Telegraph reported that the photos were shared by Mangushev's friend Boris Rozhkin, who has been sanctioned by Ukraine for pushing pro-Kremlin propaganda.
"I think we can safely describe this as a hit," Mark Galeotti, a London-based expert on Russian security and director of Mayak Intelligence, said in a series of tweets about the incident.
In the posts, Galeotti theorized that the shooting could be a "proxy attack" on Yevgeny Prigozhin, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin and the head of the Wagner Group.
"This could be a warning, or taking a pawn off the board, or a sign that Prigozhin's more thuggish rivals feel he is weakened enough that they can move," he added.
A Russian captain was shot "execution-style" in the head on Saturday, according to reports.
Igor Mangushev was filmed last year brandishing the supposed skull of a slain Ukrainian soldier.
An expert said the "hit" on Mangushev may have been a proxy attack on the head of the Wagner Group.
A captain in the Russian army, who previously worked as a propagandist, was shot in the head at close range in Ukraine over the weekend, according to reports.
British newspaper The Telegraph reported that Igor Mangushev was taken to a hospital in the town of Stakhanov early Saturday with a "close range" gunshot wound to the head.
According to The New Voice of Ukraine, citing unverified doctors' reports, Mangushev was shot "execution-stye" at a checkpoint in the Russian-occupied region of Luhansk Oblast.
He survived but is now being treated for the gunshot wound by a neurosurgery department at a hospital in Kaddivka, in eastern Ukraine, the outlet said.
The Institute for the Study of War, an American think tank, said on Saturday that Mangushev had ties to the private military contractor the Wagner Group.
It also noted that Mangushev gained notoriety for a stunt involving the skull of what he said was a Ukrainian soldier who had died at the Azovstal plant in Mariupol.
Last summer, Mangushev was filmed brandishing the skull during a heavy metal concert. Per The New Voice of Ukraine, during the recording he called for the destruction of all those who supported the existence of Ukraine.
According to MailOnline, Mangushev has repeatedly called for the murder of Ukrainian civilians in Telegram posts.
The Daily Beast reported that Mangushev also had links to neo-Nazi groups.
Images released on Telegram appear to show a bandaged Mangushev covered in blood, lying on a hospital bed.
The Telegraph reported that the photos were shared by Mangushev's friend Boris Rozhkin, who has been sanctioned by Ukraine for pushing pro-Kremlin propaganda.
"I think we can safely describe this as a hit," Mark Galeotti, a London-based expert on Russian security and director of Mayak Intelligence, said in a series of tweets about the incident.
In the posts, Galeotti theorized that the shooting could be a "proxy attack" on Yevgeny Prigozhin, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin and the head of the Wagner Group.
"This could be a warning, or taking a pawn off the board, or a sign that Prigozhin's more thuggish rivals feel he is weakened enough that they can move," he added.
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