Pro-Putin Musician, Who Waved Dead Ukrainian's Skull Around On Stage, Shot In The Head In Suspected 'Revenge Hit'
A pro-Putin musician, who once waved a dead Ukrainian’s skull around on stage, was shot in the head in what is suspected to be a “revenge hit” for his anti-Ukrainian behavior, RadarOnline.com has learned.
Igor Mangushev, 36, is currently in the hospital recovering from his near-fatal injuries.
He was reportedly shot in the head on the night of February 3 while fighting in Ukraine under Vladimir Putin’s mercenary chief, Yevgeny Prigozhin.
According to Daily Star, the attack against Mangushev came roughly six months after the Russian musician-turned-mercenary waved the Ukrainian skull on stage during a concert in August.
“We’re alive and this guy is already dead,” the 36-year-old said at the time. "Let him burn in hell. He wasn’t lucky. We’ll make a goblet out of his skull.”
One leading Russian expert, Mark Galeotti, told Daily Star the attack on Mangushev’s life was likely a warning to Prigozhin, describing the shooting incident as a “proxy attack.”
"I think we can safely describe this as a hit,” said Galeotti. "This could be a warning, or taking a pawn off the board, or a sign that Mr. Prigozhin’s more thuggish rivals feel he is weakened enough that they can move.”
Mangushev’s wife, Tatiana Azarevich, echoed Galeotti’s suspicions and suggested the attack on her husband’s life was an inside job carried out by the pro-Russian side.
Azarevich also suggested the shooting incident was covered up by Russian authorities.
“On the night of February 3 to 4 my husband was wounded in his head with a bullet under unknown circumstances while in Stakhanov in Luhansk People's Republic,” Mangushev’s wife said in a video.
“According to doctors it was a blind gunshot wound, a bullet lodged in his brain, presumably a 9mm pistol bullet,” she continued. "There has still been no investigation. Not even a criminal case has been opened, even though, judging by the nature of the wound, this was an attempted murder."
“It is hard for me to talk right now,” Azarevich added. “I probably experienced today almost the worst thing that could happen in my life.”
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Mangushev’s wife also denied claims her husband was fighting in Ukraine as a mercenary with Prigozhin’s Wagner Private Military Company and insisted Mangushev was battling alongside Russia’s proper military brigade.
Following the alleged murder attempt on Mangushev’s life, it was revealed he was the leader of a pro-Russian political movement with direct links to the Russian Federal Security Service.
Social media posts made by Mangushev also showed him openly calling for Ukrainian citizens to be executed.