Yevhen Volodymyrovych Zhylin (, 6 January 1976 – 19 September 2016) was a Russian separatist in

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

from

Kharkiv Kharkiv, also known as Kharkov, is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city in Ukraine.

known for his involvement in leading the

Titushky The Titushky (plural; ; ; ; ) were mercenary agents in Ukraine who supported the Ukrainian security services during the administration of Viktor Yanukovych, often posing as street hooligans in sports clothing with the purpose of serving as provoca ...

during

Euromaidan Euromaidan ( ; , , ), or the Maidan Uprising, was a wave of Political demonstration, demonstrations and civil unrest in Ukraine, which began on 21 November 2013 with large protests in Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square) in Kyiv. The p ...

and attempting to form a "

Kharkiv People's Republic From the end of February 2014, in the aftermath of the Euromaidan and the Revolution of Dignity, which resulted in the ousting of Russian-leaning President of Ukraine, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, demonstrations by Russian-backed, ...

", of which he was the self-proclaimed president. Zhylin would be assassinated in Russia in 2016.

Biography

Zhylin was born in

Kharkiv Kharkiv, also known as Kharkov, is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city in Ukraine.

in 1976. Zhylin was a police officer before getting involved in pro-Russian separatist circles. Zhylin was the lead suspect in a 2006 attempted assassination of

Hennadiy Kernes Hennadiy Adolfovych Kernes (27 June 1959 – 16 December 2020) was a Ukrainian politician who was the 5th mayor of Kharkiv from 24 November 2010 until his death on 16 December 2020.

for which he was detained for two years but ultimately acquitted and released in 2008. In 2010 he opened a

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting combat sport, sport based on strike (attack), striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-s ...

club in Kharkiv named "Oplot" or "Stronghold" claiming that the organization was made to train fighters to oppose

neo-Nazis Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and racial supremacy (often white supremacy), to att ...

and

Banderite A Banderite or Banderovite (; ; ; ) is a name for the members of the OUN-B, a faction of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists. The term, used from late 1940 onward, derives from the name of Stepan Bandera (1909–1959), the ultranation ...

s. ''

TASS The Russian News Agency TASS, or simply TASS, is a Russian state-owned news agency founded in 1904. It is the largest Russian news agency and one of the largest news agencies worldwide. TASS is registered as a Federal State Unitary Enterpri ...

'' reported that Oplot was made to support former members of the

Militsiya ''Militsiya'' ( rus, милиция, 3=mʲɪˈlʲitsɨjə, 5=, ) were the police forces in the Soviet Union until 1991, in several Eastern Bloc countries (1945–1992), and in the Non-Aligned Movement, non-aligned Socialist Federal Republic ...

who were struggling to find jobs.

Euromaidan

During

Zhylin made a name for himself as one of the leading

Anti-Maidan The anti-Maidan (; ) refers to a number of pro-Russian demonstrations in Ukraine in 2013 and 2014 that were directed against Euromaidan and later the new Ukrainian government. The initial participants were in favor of supporting the cabinet of ...

voices within the city, using his MMA club as an impromptu paramilitary to engage in street clashes against pro-maidan protesters. He also sent some of his fighters to

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

to fight the protesters there as

. Zhylin was offered to be named the chief of the Titushky, however, the role would ultimately be given to businessman

Oleksiy Chebotariov Oleksii, Oleksiy, Oleksij or OleksiĭALA-LC romanization of Ukrainian ( ) is a Ukrainian male name of Ancient Greek origin. Some people with the given name Oleksiy * Oleksiy Martinez (born 1996), Ukrainian haxball forward * Oleksiy Antyukhin (b ...

, who was close to then interior minister

Vitaliy Zakharchenko Vitaliy Yuriyovych Zakharchenko (, Russian: Виталий Юрьевич Захарченко, born 20 January 1963) is a Ukrainian and Russian politician who is a senior consultant at Russia's Rostec state corporation. He previously served as ...

, who would coordinate the Titushky remotely in the

Maldives The Maldives, officially the Republic of Maldives, and historically known as the Maldive Islands, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in South Asia located in the Indian Ocean. The Maldives is southwest of Sri Lanka and India, abou ...

while Zhylin was in charge of ground operations. Zhylin oversaw the kidnapping of pro-maidan protesters and personally tortured them on camera, releasing the footage as a threat to those who participate in the protests. After

Viktor Yanukovych Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych (born 9 July 1950) is a Ukrainian politician who served as the fourth president of Ukraine from 2010 to 2014. He also served as the prime minister of Ukraine several times between 2002 and 2007 and was a member of t ...

fled the country following the

Revolution of Dignity The Revolution of Dignity (), also known as the Maidan Revolution or the Ukrainian Revolution, took place in Ukraine in February 2014 at the end of the Euromaidan protests, when deadly clashes between protesters and state forces in the capit ...

, Zhylin's street fighters were organized into a militia fighting as a member of the

Russian people's militias in Ukraine Russian separatist forces in Ukraine, primarily the People's Militias of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) and the Luhansk People's Republic (LPR), were pro-Russian paramilitaries in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. They were under t ...

. Zhylin would attempt to recruit foreign fighters from the former Soviet Union to take up arms against the "neo-Nazis" responsible for Euromaidan, including

Mamuka Mamulashvili Mamuka "Ushangi" Mamulashvili ( ka, მამუკა (უშანგი) მამულაშვილი; ; born 22 April 1978) is a Georgians, Georgian military unit leader who currently commands the Georgian Legion (Ukraine), Georgian Leg ...

, who called the proposal "stupid" and went on to form the Georgian Legion, promising to capture Zhylin and fight the separatists. Zhylin then opened more Oplot locations in the

Donbass The Donbas (, ; ) or Donbass ( ) is a historical, cultural, and economic region in eastern Ukraine. The majority of the Donbas is occupied by Russia as a result of the Russo-Ukrainian War. The word ''Donbas'' is a portmanteau formed fr ...

, namely in

Donetsk Donetsk ( , ; ; ), formerly known as Aleksandrovka, Yuzivka (or Hughesovka), Stalin, and Stalino, is an industrial city in eastern Ukraine located on the Kalmius River in Donetsk Oblast, which is currently occupied by Russia as the capita ...

, which were involved in the seizing of government buildings there during the outbreak of the

War in the Donbass The war in Donbas, or the Donbas war, was a phase of the Russo-Ukrainian War in the eastern Donbas region of Ukraine. The war Timeline of the war in Donbas (2014), began in April 2014, when Russian separatist forces in Ukraine, Russian para ...

Alexander Zakharchenko Alexander Vladimirovich Zakharchenko (26 June 1976 – 31 August 2018) was a Ukrainian separatist leader who was the Russia-installed head of state and prime minister of the Donetsk People's Republic, a self-proclaimed state and Russian-backed ...

was a member of the Donetsk branch of Oplot. On April 7, 2014, Zhylin and Oplot where among the anti-maidan militias that stormed the

Kharkiv Oblast Council The Kharkiv Oblast Council () is the regional oblast council (parliament) of the Kharkiv Oblast (province) located in eastern Ukraine. The council is composed of 120 members and is situated in the oblast's administrative center Kharkiv. Council me ...

. During the one-day occupation of the building Zhylin would be proclaimed the "President" of the "

Exile in Russia

Following the failure of the Kharkiv People's Republic to form, Zhylin went into exile in Russia in the spring of 2014 and had a warrant pending for his arrest in Ukraine since 2016 after a two-year-long investigation concluded he was instrumental in the pro-Russian separatist circle. Zhylin settled in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

where he continued Oplot's activities both as a fight club and as a private security firm. He used his organization to finance the

Donetsk People's Republic The Donetsk People's Republic (DPR; , ) is Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine, occupied territory in Ukraine that the Russian Federation has claimed to annex and declared as a Republics of Russia, republic of Russia, comprising parts o ...

and the

Luhansk People's Republic The Luhansk People's Republic (LPR; , ) is a disputed territory administered as a republic of Russia in the occupied parts of eastern Ukraine's Luhansk Oblast, with its capital in Luhansk. The LPR was proclaimed by Russian-backed paramilitar ...

. It was revealed in 2016 that Zhylin was a close personal friend of

Kostiantyn Kulyk Kostiantyn Hennadiiovych Kulyk (, born 3 November 1977) is a Ukrainian former prosecutor who was involved in creating a dossier regarding the activities of Hunter Biden. According to the ''New York Times'', Rudy Giuliani planned to meet Kulyk in ...

the former chief prosecutor of

Kharkiv Oblast Kharkiv Oblast (, ), also referred to as Kharkivshchyna (), is an oblast (province) in eastern Ukraine. Kharkiv borders Luhansk Oblast to the east, Donetsk Oblast to the southeast, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast to the southwest, Poltava Oblast to the w ...

and made frequent payments, including a gifted car, to Kulyk.

Assassination

On September 20, 2016, Zhylin and an associate, Andrei Kozyrev, were dining in a high-end restaurant in the Gorki-2 suburb of Moscow when a man with a fake mustache, sunglasses, and hat entered, walked up to the table, and shot Zhylin and Kozyrev. Zhylin was killed instantly while Kozyrev went into a coma. Russian nationalist politician Aleksandr Borodai stated that the assassination was the result of a "business dispute" between rival security companies, while the Ukrainian politician

Dmytro Tymchuk Dmytro Borysovych Tymchuk (; 27 June 1972 – 19 June 2019) was a Ukrainian milblogger, lieutenant colonel, and politician who served as a People's Deputy of Ukraine from the proportional list of the People's Front from 2014 until his death in ...

claimed Zhylin was assassinated by the

Federal Security Service The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation �СБ, ФСБ России (FSB) is the principal security agency of Russia and the main successor agency to the Soviet Union's KGB; its immediate predecessor was the Federal Counterin ...

"defending the nformationspace from those who could give evidence about the initial stage of Russia's hybrid war against Ukraine."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zhylin, Yevhen 1976 births 2016 murders in Russia 2016 deaths Assassinations in Russia Military personnel from Kharkiv People murdered in Russia Pro-Russian people of the 2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine Pro-Russian people of the war in Donbas Russian nationalists Unsolved murders in Russia Assassinated Ukrainian politicians Ukrainian collaborators with Russia Assassinated Russian politicians Politicians from Kharkiv Political violence in Russia European politicians assassinated in the 2010s Politicians assassinated in 2016