Armen Sarkisian, suspected organiser of anti-Maidan provocateurs, wounded in explosion in Moscow – video
Pravda Ukraine
An explosion at the Alye Parusa (“Scarlet Sails”) housing complex in Moscow left one person dead and several others injured. Law enforcement officials confirmed that Armen Sarkisian, also known as “Armen Horlivskyi” [Armen from Horlivka, Donetsk Oblast – ed.], was seriously wounded in the explosion. Sarkisian is known as the organiser of the Maidan “titushky” and the founder of the “Armenian Battalion” [“titushky” are hired thugs used to intimidate Maidan protesters in 2014 – ed].
Source: Radio Liberty; Russian news outlet Interfax; Russian media outlet Kommersant; Baza Telegram channel
Details: Russian Telegram channels have shared footage, reportedly from the entrance of the residential building, showing shattered glass strewn across the area. A person is seen lying on the floor as they receive medical assistance.
The Telegram channel Baza reported that one person was killed in the explosion and at least five others were injured. Russian state-owned news agency TASS, citing emergency services, also confirmed one fatality.
Reports indicate that the explosion was caused by either a detonated explosive device or a grenade.
For reference: A native of now-occupied Horlivka, Donetsk Oblast, 44-year-old Armen Sarkisian has been wanted since 2014 on suspicion of organising the Maidan titushky [provocateurs who would incite violence at pro-European, anti-Yanukovych political rallies in order to get protestors arrested. Yanukovych was the former Russian-backed president of Ukraine who committed multiple crimes against the Ukrainian people and corrupted the country – ed.]. The investigators reported that on 17 February 2014, acting in the interests of former Interior Minister Vitalii Zakharchenko and his business partners, Sarkisian ordered Yurii Krysin to find 200-300 people to “protect public order” in the government quarter, which led to the murder of journalist Viacheslav Veremii.
Krysin says he later received US$20,000 from Armen Sarkisian “for protecting the government quarter”. Krysin paid his accomplices UAH 1,000 (approx. US$23) each and kept the rest for himself. A Ukrainian court sentenced Krysin to five years in prison. He later received a second sentence for organising the torture of Maidan activists at the behest of Oleksii Chebotariov, a Yanukovych-era businessman now in hiding in Russia. Krysin will be imprisoned until 2026.
In the summer of 2019, Yurii Krysin tried to change his testimony and remove the mention of Armen Sarkisian from it, emphasising that he had allegedly slandered him because of a financial conflict. This happened on the eve of the cassation appeal hearing.
During the Yanukovych era, Sarkisian was an influential crime boss nicknamed “Armen Horlivskyi” [Armen from Horlivka – ed.] who was close to Yurii Ivaniushchenko, nicknamed Yura Yenakiievskyi [Yura from Yenakiieve, Donetsk Oblast], a former member of parliament for the Party of Regions [party of Viktor Yanukovych, the pro-Russian former president of Ukraine who fled the country after the Revolution of Dignity in 2014– ed.]. Ivaniushchenko was removed from the wanted list in 2019 further to a ruling by the prosecutor’s office to close the proceedings. Sarkisian is also considered to be the shadow overseer of all business in occupied Horlivka. He owns cafés and has established boxing clubs there. Defence Intelligence stated that since 24 February, he has been looting and taking over businesses in the occupied territories of Ukraine.
In 2018, Ukrainian law enforcement officials announced that Sarkisian had been detained in France, but later reported that it was the wrong person. The detention story was denied by the suspect himself, who noted that he was in Russia.
The media have also published a photograph of Armen Sarkisian with Adam Delimkhanov, the right-hand man of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov and a member of the State Duma [the lower chamber of the Russian Parliament – ed.].
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