Misanthropic Division is a neo-Nazi movement with a network structure, which exists in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, as well as in a number of Western countries. According to the Investigative Committee of Russia, Misanthropic Division cells appeared in 19 countries, including Germany, France, Poland, England and other European countries. Also MD maintains networks in the U.S., Canada, South America and Australia. The network consists of completely autonomous groups, between which there are only informal horizontal links. These groups are united by a common symbolism and ideology: neo-Nazism in blatant form, neo-paganism, Evolianism, xenophobia, and “hatemongering” – the poeticization of violence.
The emergence of the Misanthropic Division almost coincided with the beginning of the Ukrainian Revolution of Dignity, and it was during the events on the Maidan in Kiev that its supporters became relatively well known. The social milieu in which the movement emerged had previously emerged around the “Restruct” Movement and the activities of Russian neo-Nazi Maxim “Tesak” Martsinkevich.
**Maidan**
The organization appeared at the end of October 2013. Some sources say that Kharkiv was the place of their creation, but most claim that it was [created](blob:https://pikabu.ru/d90c723c-3f3e-4c82-9b06-2f37d67531ec) right on the Maidan square during riots. The saved wiki page, which contains copypaste from MD’s Facebook page (now deleted), even has a specific date – October 31. It also lists its founders: Sergey “People Hater”, Sasha “Sharp Knife” and Dima “Misanthropic Fuhrer”. They united a group of skinheads around themselves and created a public forum with the same name.
After the Revolution of Dignity, in March 2014 members of the Ukrainian Misanthropic Division took part in a street confrontation with pro-Russian “separatists” in Kharkov, as part of a group of supporters of Andrei Biletsky, who was released from the detention center. The street clashes [culminated](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1IRsctjDCY) in a shootout on Rymarskaya Street that resulted in two deaths.
In 2006-2011 Biletsky was the leader of the neo-Nazi groups “Patriot of Ukraine” and Social National Assembly, in 2011 he was imprisoned. After release by the Verkhovna Rada as a “political prisoner,” he took an active part in defending Ukraine’s territorial integrity and state sovereignty. In March-April 2014, a group of his supporters was called “Right Sector-East”, and in May 2014 they formed the “Azov” battalion. Misanthropic Division supporters [were integrated](blob:https://pikabu.ru/f5091150-dd18-41d0-9b55-25192325380c) in “Azov”. It is difficult to determine the exact number of Misanthropic Division supporters who took part in combat operations but some experts say it was no more than 50 fighters.
One of the most famous Russian Nazis who moved to Ukraine was Roman “Zyxel” Zheleznov. He was also a member of the Misanthropic Division.
Representatives of the Misanthropic Division with a separate banner with their symbols (however, “cleaned” from the SS “dead head” emblem) were publicly [spotted](https://youtu.be/WMBbdMPU3pg) on October 14 at the 2014 March of the Nation in Kyiv. Apparently, some members of the group joined the “National Corps” political party created by Andriy Biletsky, whose founding congress was held on the same day.
In early 2016, Misanthropic Division announced it had ceased operations, but in August it announced its revival. The organization was headed by one of its former leaders, Sergei Linnik, who had fought in the “Azov”.
After Russia invaded Ukraine, MD members [announced](https://t.me/misanthropic_division/1111) that they had resumed their activities. It is not known whether they have a separate subdivision or their numbers, but judging by the photos, the MD is now no more than 10 people within “Azov”. In early March, it was reported that MD member Nikita “Dobrynia” Yeliseev was [killed](https://t.me/misanthropic_division/1091?single) in Mariupol.
**Motorola murder**
On October 16, 2016, one of the commanders of the Donetsk Peoples Republic, Arsen “Motorola” Pavlov, was killed by a bomb blast in the elevator of his own house. The next day, a video of those who claimed responsibility for the attack appeared on the Internet. In the video, unidentified men in balaclavas claim to be the perpetrators of Motorola’s murder and raise their hands in a Nazi salute. They positioned themselves as members of the Misanthropic Division. However, the organization denied this video, but made it clear that another nationalist movement “Phoenix” was involved in it. It was a split from the MD.
“Phoenix” was an attempt to revive the activity of the movement as an independent project, as the name transparently hints. However, legitimate continuity did not work – the Ukrainian leaders of the Misanthropic Division did not recognize the new group, and resumed activity under the old brand. Roman Zheleznov [announced](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqShgIzzpb4&t=18s) that.
Later, suspects in the murder of Motorola were detained in Donetsk. During interrogation, the commander of the sabotage and reconnaissance group, Alexander Nikolaychuk, who lived in Donetsk, said: “At the end of 2015, I organized a local Misanthropic Division cell, as I shared the views and ideology of the organization. I contacted the organizer of the Kyiv cell to find out if they had representatives in Donetsk. I tried to find supporters through social networks”. Another detainee, 20-year-old Ernest Popov, said that he was a member of the right-wing ultras. When the war began, he decided to go to war and, on the recommendation of a friend, joined the “Azov” battalion in Kyiv. After training in the camp, he was assigned to join a cell in Donetsk. They were released.
In 2017, Ukrainian saboteurs near Luhansk were [detained](https://www.rbc.ru/politics/11/03/2017/58c405629a79473678ee541f) who named the perpetrators of Motorola murder- Maj. Balov, head of intelligence of the armed forces of Ukraine.
**Russian case**
In 2015 MD was prohibited in Russia.
In June 2017, the russian court [found](https://www.svoboda.org/a/28397957.html) three Misanthropic Division members Kirill Khalepo, Vitaly Tsaruk, and Viktor Pekhterev guilty. Khalepo received three years in a penal colony, Tsaruk received three years and two months in a general regime colony, and Pekhterev received six months in a general regime colony. They will also be charged with more than 30 thousand rubles and their cell phones will be taken by the state. In addition, the court ordered to destroy the symbols of Misanthropic Division.
Investigators believe that the Misanthropic Division movement itself was created in 2013 by Belarusian citizen Dmitry Pavlov as a subcultural project. According to them, by creating the movement, Pavlov wanted to strengthen his position among neo-Nazis and make a profit by selling their symbols. After the events in Ukraine in 2014, Misanthropic Division’s activities became international.
In Ukraine, however, it is now claimed that it all began in Kharkov, where the movement was created by local soccer fans with neo-Nazi views. According to one version, Dmitriy Pavlov had a nickname Misanthropic Fuhrer (Fuhrer). He allegedly died in the battles near Novoazovsk in August 2014. But according to the Russian police, it is a different person, and Pavlov’s nickname is not Fuhrer, but Bazutchik. And Dmitry Pavlov himself is hiding in the Germany.
**International ties**
Misanthropic Division recruits members from the international national-socialist-black metal (NSBM) scene. Liaison persons are the neo-Nazi Hendrik Möbus, convicted of murder, Alexei Levkin, singer of the band M8l8th and organizer of the NSBM festival Åsgårdsrei, and Famine, singer of the French black metal band Peste Noire. There are further connections to the Identitarian Movement and to the extreme right-wing party Der III. Weg.4
14 Points of the Misanthropic Division International was published [online](https://www.foiaresearch.net/organization/misanthropic-division).
The Zurich newspaper Tages Anzeiger [published](http://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/ausland/europa/Schweizer-Neonazis-liefern-Geld-in-die-Ostukraine/story/13160853) a note in 2015 about a Swiss MD cell that helped Ukrainian sympathizers with money, medicine, and groceries from the Migros supermarket.
It was also in May 2015 that the first trace of the “Misanthropic Division Deutschland” appeared in Germany.
The British MD cell is quite active. The Gurdian newspaper [wrote](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/02/neo-nazi-groups-recruit-britons-to-fight-in-ukraine) that the MD recruits local far-right activists for the war in Donbass. Also participated with a local group in rallies more than once. On August 2, 2015, several members of the Ukrainian section of the MD were spotted in London, interrupting a pro-Novorossiya demonstration in front of the Ukrainian embassy, together with the Italian (former) Avanguardia Nazionale member Francesco Fontana.
There are American cells that [recruited](https://triad-city-beat.com/the-lost-boys-of-ukraine/,) Nazis for “Azov”. They have also been seen propagandizing terrorism.
MD flags were seen at rallies in [France](https://montreal-antifasciste.info/fr/2018/05/22/soldiers-of-odin-a-montreal-la-police-protege-encore-les-nazis/) and in [Poland](https://www.fakt.pl/wydarzenia/polityka/wielka-wpadka-policji-w-warszawie-gdzie-sa-specsluzby/wzbn9qh).
The Brazilian cell was well noted. Many people in that country were [shocked](https://www.timesofisrael.com/brazilian-neo-nazis-recruited-to-fight-ukrainian-civil-war/) by the news that neo-Nazis were traveling to another country to gain combat experience. A police raid was conducted and some were detained for illegal possession of weapons. Attacks on the cultural center in São Paulo were also linked to MD.
