Russian neo-Nazi Ilya Goryachev was jailed for life for a string of hate killings in Russia

Ilya Goryachev leader of a militant neo-Nazi group, was jailed for life after he was convicted of ordering five brutal killings including that of a prominent human rights lawyer. Pic: AP. Source: AP

HE IS responsible for ordering a string of hate killings, including the daylight shooting of a human rights lawyer and a journalist.

But it wasn’t just Ilya Goryachev’s brutal actions that were disturbing, it was how he became so untouchable in elite and political circles across multiple countries that is frightening.

The neo-Nazi, who was jailed for life on Friday, is the former leader of the Russian nationalist group Russky Obraz (Russian Image) and one of the founders of Battle Organisation of Russian Nationalists, or BORN.

The militant group is responsible for a racist killing spree that took place in the Soviet Union between 2008 and 2010.

While there has been no doubt the motivations for the killings have stemmed from the group’s far-right views, there has been speculation within Russia that they may have also been sanctioned from a higher authority.

Among the ten murders were the assassination of human rights lawyer Stanislav Markelov and reporter Anastasia Baburova.

Markelov was pursuing a case against a Russian colonel who was accused of murdering an 18-year-old Chechen girl, when he was gunned down in broad daylight, a short walk from the Kremlin.

Novaya Gazeta journalist Baburova was walking near him and went to his aid but was also shot dead.

The murders made headlines across the world, and the Kremlin received widespread condemnation by human rights organisations.

BORN was also responsible for taking out Moscow judge Eduard Chuvashov in April 2010. The judge was notorious for handing out long prison terms to nationalists.

They also killed a number of anti-fascists including the brutal slaying of Tajikistani Salekh Azizov whose severed head was found wrapped in a plastic bag in a Moscow bin. His body, which had been stabbed six times, was found 19 kilometres away.

BORN reportedly sent images of Azizov’s beheading to human rights organisations in Russia.

Another victim was anti-racism campaigner Ilya Djaparidze who was killed the night before he was due to lead a rally at a Dinamo FC football match.

Lawyer Stanislav Markelov who was shot and killed after a press conference in Central Moscow after he attempted to draw attention to the release of an army colonel convicted of murder in Chechnya. Source: AP

Journalist Anastasia Barburova who was shot along with human rights lawyer Stanislav Markelov in Central Moscow in 2009. Source: AP

According to The Balkanist, Goryachev was well connected. And not just in Russian political circles.

He worked for an Orthodox television channel for a short time and wrote articles for several newspapers. He also claimed to have worked as an assistant to two Russian MPs.

After he testified against his best friend and BORN co-founder Nikita Tikhonov during the murder trial for Markelov and Baburova, he fled to Serbia where he regularly associated with the country’s educated elite.

Back in his home country, the historian was reportedly linked to Vladislav Surkov who, at one stage, was considered the second most powerful man in Russia.

Surkov was reported to have invented the concept of “manageable nationalism,” and oversaw domestic policy as deputy Kremlin chief of staff between 2008 and late 2011,The Moscow Times reported.

Surkov reportedly allowed neo-Nazis free rein to terrorise anti-fascist campaigners in a bid to stop them from attending rallies.

The Russky Obraz was considered the main enforcer of this rein of terror.

But when his organisation began receiving special treatment from the Kremlin, other far-right groups became jealous as well as suspicious.

Some claimed they thought the organisation “served a higher master”.

Adding fuel to the fire were the circumstances surrounding Goryachev’s arrest.

After Tikhonov and his girlfriend Yevgenia Khasis were convicted for the murders of Markelov and Baburova, Goryachev fled to Serbia.

Despite being linked to the numerous murders carried out by his organisation, he was somehow allowed to leave Russia and move to a small town in the Serbian countryside.

Goryachev always had a fascination weith Serbia, he became obsessed with the NATO bombing of the region as a teenager in 1999.

Russky Obraz was the Russian spin-off of Obraz, a Serbian Orthodox clerical-fascist movement.

For three years Goryachev roamed free, seemingly immune to the reaches of the Russian authorities.

But his luck ran out on May 8, 2013, the same day Surkov ‘resigned’ from Russian politics.

He was arrested at Belgrade airport and was held in a Belgrade prison until he was extradited back to Russia to stand trial for the murders.

On Friday, Goryachev was found guilty of five murders including the executions of Markelov and Baburova.

He was also found guilty of setting up an ultra-nationalist group and illegally possessing weapons. He had been charged with illegal arms trafficking.

Tikhonov, is serving a life sentence for shooting Markelov, while Khasis, was sent to a penal colony for 18 years.

Following the sentencing last week investigators said it was Goryachev “who gave Tikhonov the assignment to murder lawyer Stanislav Markelov”.

Goryachev felt “ideological hatred and enmity” towards Markelov due to his “professional activities in defending the rights of victims with anti-fascist views,” they added.

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