The Rise of MKY: A Neo-Nazi Terror Group Targeting Minorities and Seeking Societal Collapse
On Tuesday, July 16, 2024, federal prosecutors in Brooklyn unsealed a sweeping felony indictment against Michail Chkhikvishvili, a 20-year-old alleged leader of a violent Eastern European skinhead gang known as Maniac Murder Cult (MKY). The indictment paints a chilling picture of a group dedicated to violent acts against racial minorities, the Jewish community, and other groups deemed "Undesirables," with ambitions to destabilize society through terrorism.
MKY’s story is intertwined with another dark corner of the internet: the com/764 child exploitation network. This connection, forged through Chkhikvishvili’s ties to two unidentified com/764 members, has resulted in several violent acts, including a homicide in Romania directly linked to MKY.
Chkhikvishvili, also known as "Commander Butcher," "Michael," and "Mishka," was arrested on an Interpol warrant in Chișinău, Moldova, for allegedly conspiring to solicit attacks on homeless people, Jews, and other racial minorities in New York City, distributing explosives-making instructions, and making violent threats in online conversations with an undercover FBI employee. One of the most shocking plots outlined in the indictment involved poisoning Jewish children by handing out tainted candy while dressed as Santa Claus on New Year’s Eve 2023.
The FBI describes MKY’s ideology as “neo-Nazi accelerationist,” echoing similar groups like the Atomwaffen Division and The Base. These groups seek to precipitate societal collapse through violence and terror. MKY’s founder, Yegor Krasnov, established the group in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, and the group is implicated in numerous homicides and assaults in both Russia and Ukraine.
MKY’s presence is evident in their Telegram channels, where they glorify in-person violence, distribute how-to guides for committing violent assaults and shootings, and provide instructions on maximizing harm to victims and covering their tracks. The act of committing and documenting such an attack is the very criteria for admittance to MKY.
The indictment reveals the disturbing connection between MKY and com/764, a network responsible for child abuse and child sexual abuse material (CSAM) distribution. This link, forged by Chkhikvishvili, has led authorities to investigate the roles of com/764 members known as “Xor” and “Kush,” while also highlighting the involvement of "Tobbz," a German perpetrator who committed a homicide and assault in 2022.
The indictment against Chkhikvishvili is not an isolated case. The US Attorney’s office for New York’s Eastern District is currently prosecuting two related cases:
- The child abuse and CSAM distribution case against Angel Almeida, a com/764 member whose arrest in Fall 2021 provided the first insight into the world of com, 764 and MKY.
- The case against Nicholas Welker, the alleged former head of the neo-Nazi group Feuerkrieg Division, who was convicted in April for threatening a Brooklyn-based journalist.
FBI investigations uncovered that Welker and Chkhikvishvili were in contact from July 2022 to March 2023, when Welker was arrested.
Despite being a Georgian national, Chkhikvishvili resided in the United States in 2022, visiting his girlfriend in California and staying with his grandparents in Brooklyn. He worked at a rehab facility caring for an elderly Orthodox Jewish patient during this time.
"I’m working in rehab center privately in Jewish family," Chkhikvishvili messaged another neo-Nazi in July 2022. "I get paid to torture dying jew, I think I almost killed him today." He even sent multiple images of the patient to his extremist colleagues. The patient later died that year, though the indictment does not allege Chkhikvishvili caused his death.
The indictment’s details paint a horrifying picture of MKY’s inner workings. Chkhikvishvili allegedly urged an undercover FBI agent to commit acts of violence and record them, highlighting the group’s deadly ethos.
"We murder they larp," Chkhikvishvili allegedly wrote to another extremist, comparing MKY to another neo-Nazi group. This quote underlines the difference between MKY’s real violence and other groups who engage in symbolic, pretend violence.
Even when planning the mass poisoning scheme, Chkhikvishvili remained undeterred by the potential danger it could bring to the group.
"That’s what we exactly want," he allegedly wrote in reply to the undercover agent’s concerns about the potential "heat" the act could generate.
This indictment against Chkhikvishvili, while marking a significant victory against a violent neo-Nazi group, also serves as a warning. This investigation exposes a network of dangerous extremists who are not only orchestrating attacks but also recruiting new members online. The dangers posed by this violent accelerationist ideology, coupled with the ease of online communication and recruitment, raise serious concerns about the future of online safety and the fight against extremism.
The investigation into Chkhikvishvili and his alleged crimes underscores the need for continued vigilance and collaboration between law enforcement agencies and international partners to combat the growing threat of neo-Nazi terrorism. The consequences of inaction are severe, as evidenced by the countless lives lost and communities devastated by such groups. It remains to be seen how Chkhikvishvili’s case will unfold, but the international collaborative effort to dismantle MKY and bring its members to justice remains a priority.
