Oleksandr Muzychko

Oleksandr Ivanovych Muzychko

Oleksandr Muzychko during the First Chechen War
Born (1962-09-19)19 September 1962
Kizel, Perm Oblast, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Died 24 March 2014(2014-03-24) (aged 51)
Cafe "Try Karasi" near Rivne, Rivne Oblast, Ukraine
Nationality Ukrainian and Belarusian
Other names Sashko Bilyi
Occupation Political activist
Known for Coordinator of Right Sector in Western Ukraine

Oleksandr Ivanovych Muzychko (Ukrainian: Олександр Іванович Музичко, 19 September 1962 – 24 March 2014[1][source needs translation][2][source needs translation]), nicknamed Sashko Bilyi (Сашко Білий), was a Ukrainian political activist, a member of UNA-UNSO and coordinator of Right Sector in Western Ukraine.[3][source needs translation] Russian prosecutors accused him of killing "at least 20" captive Russian soldiers during the First Chechen War. The inquiry by the Russian Investigative Committee began in March 2014, years after the alleged killings.[4][5]

Muzychko had vowed to fight "communists, Jews and Russians for as long as blood flows in my veins".[6]

Biography

Muzychko was born near Ural Mountains to a Ukrainian father and a Belarusian mother, both deported members of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army.[7]

During the First Chechen War he led the UNA-UNSO "Viking" group. In 1995 Muzychko was convicted of causing grievous bodily harm to an individual. In 1997 he was accused of attempting to kill a member of UNA-UNSO in Kiev.[8] In 2003 Muzychko was sentenced to 3.5 years in prison for racketeering and kidnapping. In 2009 he was accused in a hostile corporate raid. In 2012 he ran for the national parliament in the 153rd electoral district (Rivne) coming sixth.

External video
Muzychko and the Rivne prosecutor

On 27 February 2014, Muzychko attacked the Prosecutor of the Rivne Oblast in his office and threatened to "slay as a dog" the Minister of Internal Affairs Arsen Avakov.[9] On 28 February 2014, criminal proceedings were opened against him.[10][11]

On 7 March 2014, ITAR-TASS reported that he was wanted by Russian authorities for war atrocities.[12] On 11 March 2014, Russian State Duma opposition leader Valery Rashkin urged Russian special services to "follow Mossad examples" and assassinate Right Sector leaders Dmytro Yarosh and Muzychko.[13][source needs translation]

Death

On 24 March 2014 Oleksandr Muzychko was shot dead. There are conflicting stories about how this happened.[14] An official inquiry concluded he had shot himself in the heart for three times at the end of a chase.[15]

According to Ukrainian MP Oles Doniy,[14] a group of unknown armed people arrived on three Volkswagen minivans and kidnapped Muzychko and five other people from a cafe near Rivne. They murdered Muzychko behind the cafe by two gunshots to the heart.[16][source needs translation][2][17][source needs translation] In another telling of Doniy's account, a group of attackers forced Muzychko to stop his car, pulled him from it, handcuffed him and shot him.[18][19]

According to the interior ministry of Ukraine, Muzychko died in a shoot-out with police in a cafe in Rivne. According to the ministry, the police raided the cafe to arrest Muzychko, but he opened fire while he tried to flee. He was shot when the police returned fire. The police were able to capture him and three others, but by the time the paramedics had arrived at the scene, he had died.[14][20]

On 25 March, police stated that Muzychko had shot himself.[21] This was confirmed by an inquiry by the interior ministry, who concluded he had shot himself in the heart as police tried to bring him to the ground after a chase. The inquiry also concluded he had fired previously, resulting in a scratch on his skin, and that the police had acted lawfully.[15]

Reacting to news of the shooting, Dmytro Yarosh, leader of Right Sector, called for the resignation of Interior Minister Arsen Avakov and the arrest of the police who had come for Muzychko.[21]

Legacy

In Konotop a street was named after Oleksandr Muzychko.[22]

References

  1. ↑ "Вбито Сашка Білого (Музичко)". Преса України. 25 March 2014.
  2. 1 2 "Сашко Билый убит?". Komsomolskaya Pravda. 25 March 2014.
  3. ↑ "Координатор "Правого сектору" у Західній Україні – Олександр Музичко". zik.ua. Retrieved 2014-03-08.
  4. ↑ Ukrainian police kill far-right leader Oleksandr Muzytchko, Yahoo News, AFP, 2014-03-26, archived from the original on 2014-03-25, Russia had issued an arrest warrant for Muzytchko on suspicion that he fought alongside Islamists in the war in Chechnya where he was responsible for the deaths of 20 Russian soldiers, according to Russian news agencies.
  5. ↑ McCoy, Terrence (2014-03-25), Notorious leader of Ukraine's protests shot dead. Circumstances are in dispute., Washington Post, archived from the original on 2014-03-26, Earlier this month, nearly two decades after the Chechen conflict subsided, the Russian Investigative Committee opened a criminal inquiry against Muzychko. Spokesman Vladimir Markin accused Muzychko of 'killing at least 20 [Russian] soldiers held in captivity,' and put him on the 'international most wanted list.'
  6. ↑ "Blind eye turned to influence of far-right in Ukrainian crisis: critics". Global News. March 7, 2014.
  7. ↑ Маці Сашка Белага — беларуска, удзельніца УПА (The Mother of Sashko Bily is Belarusian, member of the UPA) - Report by the Belarusian service of Radio Free Europe. 24 March 2015
  8. ↑ Five facts from the life of Sasha Bilyi. Espreso. March 25, 2014
  9. ↑ Sashko Bilyi: I will destroy Avakov and hang him like a dog (Video). uapress. March 1, 2014
  10. ↑ Sashko Bilyi "activist and revolutionary," which beats the prosecutor - an outlaw. uapress. February 28, 2014
  11. ↑ Activist of the Right Sector Oleksandr Muzychko will be dealt by prosecutors. uapress. February 28, 2014
  12. ↑ "Suspected Ukrainian gunman put on international wanted list". itar-tass.com. Retrieved 2014-03-08.
  13. ↑ "Российский депутат призвал спецслужбы "ликвидировать" Яроша и Белого". Lenta.ru. 11 March 2014.
  14. 1 2 3 "Ukraine far-right leader Muzychko dies 'in police raid'". Ukraine far-right leader Muzychko dies 'in police raid'. 25 March 2014. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
  15. 1 2 "Ukraine far-right leader Sashko Bily 'shot himself'". BBC. 2 April 2014. Retrieved 12 April 2014.
  16. ↑ "ФОТОРЕПОРТАЖ З МІСЦЯ РОЗСТРІЛУ ОЛЕКСАНДРА МУЗИЧКА".
  17. ↑ "На Украине убит активист "Правого сектора" Сашко Билый". Vladnews. 25 March 2014. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
  18. ↑ Dolgov, Anna (2014-03-25), Ultranationalist Leader in Maidan Protests Is Shot Dead in Ukraine (Video), Moscow Times, archived from the original on 2014-03-25, Ukrainian lawmaker Oleksandr Doniy said on his Facebook page that unknown assailants blocked off Muzychko's car, dragged him out of the vehicle, cuffed his hands behind his back, and shot him twice in the chest.
  19. ↑ Right Sector coordinator Muzychko killed in Ukraine's Rivne, Kyiv Post, 2014-03-25, archived from the original on 2014-03-25, 'Two vehicles cut up his car, after which he was dragged out of his car and forced into one of these vehicles. He was then thrown out of the vehicle handcuffed behind his back and with two gunshot wounds to his heart,' Doniy said.
  20. ↑ Ukraine nationalist Oleksandr Muzychko killed in police operation, Associated Press, 2014-03-25, The Interior Ministry said Tuesday that Muzychko was shot dead after opening fire on police.
  21. 1 2 Rudenko, Olga (2014-03-25), Radical Right Sector activist killed in police raid; investigators raise possibility of self-inflicted wounds, Kyiv Post, archived from the original on 2014-03-25
  22. ↑
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