On November 7, information appeared online that Russian neo-Nazi and founder of the DShRG Rusich Alexey Milchakov had died at the front.
Later, Milchakov himself allegedly got in touch and denied his death by recording a voice message.
To find out whether the Russian propagandist Fakty ICTV had really died, we contacted cyber specialists from the VoxCheck project. What we were able to find out — read our investigation.
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Alexei Milchakov killed at the front?
According to analysts VoxCheck the first to report that Milchakov was killed was Kremlin war correspondent Andrei Filatov.
True, he only indicated that a soldier died at the front, but did not give his name.
Later, the anonymous telegram channel Alex Parker Returns reported Milchakov's death.
— We were unable to find information that Filatov and Milchakov knew each other or collaborated, the reporter did not mention Rusich or Milchakov in his Telegram channel. Alex Parker Returns published messages where Rusich's military personnel appeared, but it is also unknown whether the author of the channel personally knows them, — analysts told ICTV Fakty.
Cyber specialists found out that the DShRG Rusich itself initially reported that they had no information about the possible death of Milchakov.
A few minutes later, they refuted this information and published a voice message from the alleged Milchakova.
— A check in the Hive Moderation program showed that the voice message is real and not created by AI. The voice resembles Milchakova, — experts note.
Later, a photo of Milchakov was posted on Rusich's Telegram channel.
A reverse image search yielded no results, so the photo was probably taken recently or not published before.
However, judging by the background, it was taken in the fall, possibly in November, when there were almost no leaves left on the trees.
Alexey Milchakov: what is known about him
Alexey Milchakov — this is the field commander of the sabotage and assault reconnaissance group (DShRG) Rusich, associated with the mercenaries of the Wagner PMC.
Rusich's militants are guided by instructions on the “disposal of prisoners of war of the Armed Forces of Ukraine”. The key points of which — killing prisoners after interrogation and forcing the families of the dead to pay the group for information on the location of their loved ones' bodies.
Russian neo-Nazi Alexei Milchakov is also known for his brutal abuse of prisoners of war.
Earlier we reported how Milchakov bragged about how he and other occupiers cut off a prisoner of war's arm with a Glory to Ukraine tattoo and pickled it in a jar as a souvenir.
