764 – Part 2: The Maniac Murder Cult

**EXPLICIT CONTENT WARNING!** A look at the sadistic murder cult known as MKU and the recent arrest of group leader "Butcher". This is an educational topic and in no way condones extremism or hate.

My jaw dropped to the floor a few days ago when I opened my phone and read the headline. ‘Maniac Murder Cult’ Leader Charged In Plot To Have Santa Claus Hand Out Poison Candy To Kids, it said. My blood went cold.

They got Butcher.

As detailed in my previous article, 764 – Part 1, the COM network comprises a motley crew of various cybercrime communities. Among them are the pedophile and extortion network 764, an animal torture network, a network of hackers (some of whom are linked to Anonymous), and an intricate network of domestic terror cells.

It was July 16^th when the DOJ announced the indictment of an alleged neo-Nazi “murder cult” leader who had conspired to commit a mass casualty attack against Jewish and racial minority children in New York City. According to the charging documents, Butcher, whose real name is Michail Chkhikvishvili (it’s pronounced “Chick-hick-vish-villi”, for those wondering), solicited an undercover FBI agent to execute mass casualty attacks of diabolical proportions,  first conspiring to dress as Santa and hand out ricin-laced candy to racial minorities on Christmas Eve, then to hand it out to Jewish school children at a later date.

Chkhikvishvili, a foreign national originally from Tbilisi, Georgia, has been identified as a prominent leader of the so-called “Maniac Murder Cult,” a violent, Satanic neo-Nazi extremist group with roots deeply embedded in Ukraine and Russia. The charging documents implicate Butcher in a series of nefarious plots including bombings and mass casualty attacks targeted at NYC. Butcher was the self-proclaimed leader of MKU and the author of the notorious Haters Handbook, a terrorism manual offering a blueprint to all things terror attack related. But as usual, there is far more to this story than can be digested at first glance. MKU has been affiliated with 764 and other extortion groups. So, naturally, I had run into them a time or two during my research. I had run into Butcher during my research as well, but I tried to stay off of his radar. He didn’t really seem like the kind of person I wanted to know.

Let’s take a closer look at Maniac Murder Cult, the key players, the ties to 764 and COM, and the charging documents which link Butcher to all of the above.

What is Maniac Murder Cult?

Maniac Murder Cult is a Satanic, Russian-Ukrainian based neo-Nazi group dedicated to both committing and soliciting acts of racially motivated violent extremism and terrorism, including arson, mass shootings and murder. The group is also referred to as MMC, MKY, or, most commonly, MKU. MKU adheres to the National Socialist ideology and promotes ethnic cleansing and genocide of non-whites and Jewish people. The group has strong ties to Ukraine, its country of origin, and is decidedly both anti-Russian and anti-Western countries. Consequently, they mainly target their attacks on Russia and the United States. 

Between 2021 and 2022, the Russian police security agency FSB apprehended around 170 suspected MKU members, with several of them accused of plotting terror attacks within Russia. The founder of MKU, a 20-year-old Ukrainian named Yegor Krasnov, was among those arrested. A Russian news article alleged that Krasnov was in Russia acting under the cover of the Ukrainian Special Services, SBU, an allegation Ukraine denied, stating that the FSB’s claims are only understood as a part of a “coordinated information operation which should only be viewed through the prism of hybrid warfare.” The Daily Beast wrote an article defending Ukraine by implying that the MKU allegations amounted to Pro-Kremlin propaganda. The situation, as it turns out, is quite complicated. 

Yegor Krasnov

Yegor “Maniac” Krasnov

Krasnov, also known by the moniker “Maniac”, was born in Dnipro, Ukraine where he is said to have suffered from a traumatic childhood, frequent run-ins with the police, and mental health struggles. He penned an autobiography for the 3^rd edition of the group’s propaganda manual, Haters Handbook, detailing his childhood trauma and the evolution of MKU in his own words. By Krasnov’s own account, he was a serial killer. He claims he committed his first murder at age 14 and describes committing several additional murders in graphic detail. Krasnov details his journey to becoming a National Socialist, advocating for genocide in the form of racial cleansing. He claims to have created MKU in 2017 at only 16 years of age. Krasnov also claims ownership of a group called 6996 which is commonly referenced within the 764 extortion networks. He explains that 6996 is a symbol of  ‘ultraviolence’ that started on Russian social media site VK. 

Krasnov is believed to have modeled MKU after two infamous Ukrainian serial Killers known as the Dnipro maniacs, who recorded themselves brutally murdering innocent bystanders with hammers. One of those videos leaked onto the dark web and became known as the “3 Guys 1 Hammer” snuff video. In the trial, a witness testified that one of the killers was in contact with the owner of a foreign website who offered to pay the men to make snuff films for him. Interestingly enough, Krasnov is also from Dnipro, and the Haters Handbook includes his own accounts of how he directed his “Maniac Murder Cult” to commit copycat murders. Their weapon of choice: A hammer.

Yegor Krasnov