Oleksandr Muzychko

Oleksandr Ivanovych Muzychko
File:Oleksandr Muzychko.jpg Oleksandr Muzychko during the First Chechen War
Born	(1962-09-19)19 September 1962 Kizel, Perm Oblast, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Died	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^{[source needs translation][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.^{[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.

Muzychko has vowed to fight "communists, Jews and Russians for as long as blood flows in my veins".

Biography

Muzychko was born in Siberia to a Ukrainian father and a Belarusian mother, both deported members of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army.

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. 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. On 28 February 2014, criminal proceedings were opened against him.

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

Death

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

According to Ukrainian MP Oles Doniy, 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.^{[source needs translation][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.

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.

On 25 March, police stated that Muzychko had shot himself. 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.

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.

External links

• Biography
• Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Muzychko on Ukrainian-Russian relations (MPEG video)
• Video on YouTube Muzychko displays weapons while speaking to legislators

• 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
• Five facts from the life of Sasha Bilyi. Espreso. March 25, 2014
• Sashko Bilyi: I will destroy Avakov and hang him like a dog (Video). uapress. March 1, 2014
• Sashko Bilyi "activist and revolutionary," which beats the prosecutor - an outlaw. uapress. February 28, 2014
• Activist of the Right Sector Oleksandr Muzychko will be dealt by prosecutors. uapress. February 28, 2014