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			{{Short description\|Pro-Russian rebel and warlord in Eastern Ukraine}}
	'''Aleksey Mozgovoy''' ({{lang-ru\|Алексей Мозговой}}, {{lang-uk\|Олексій Мозговий}}, ''Oleksiy Mozhovyj;'' born 3 April 1975) is a pro-Russian separatist supported by the ] and ]. He is former pro-Russian activist during the ], member of the Young Guard (headed by ]).
			{{Infobox military person
			\|honorific_prefix=
			\|image=Aleksey Mozgovoy discusses military matters, Aug 7, 2014.jpg
			\|caption=Mozgovoy in 2014
			\|birth_date={{Birth date\|1975\|04\|03\|df=y}}
			\|death_date={{Death date and age\|2015\|05\|23\|1975\|04\|03\|df=y}}
			\|birth_place= ], ], ], ], ]
			\|death_place= near ], Luhansk Oblast, Ukraine
			\|nickname=
			\|allegiance= {{flag\|Lugansk People's Republic}}
			\|branch={{flagicon image\|War Flag of Novorussia.svg}} ]
			\|serviceyears=2014–2015 (Novorossiya)
			\|rank=] (Ukraine)<br />] (])
			\|unit={{flagicon image\|Flag of the Ghost Brigade.svg}} ]
			\|battles= {{tree list}}
			*]
			** ]
			*** ]
			*** ]
			{{tree list/end}}
			\|relations=
			\|laterwork=
			\|signature=
			}}

			'''Aleksey Borisovich Mozgovoy'''{{efn\|Also transliterated as '''Mozgovoi'''}} ({{langx\|ru\|Алексе́й Бори́сович Мозгово́й}}; {{langx\|uk\|Олексі́й Бори́сович Мозгови́й\|translit=Oleksii Borysovych Mozghovyi}}'';'' 3 April 1975 – 23 May 2015) was a commander of the Russian-installed separatist ] in ]. He was the leader of the pro-Russian ].
	Born in ], Mozgovoy lived in its administrative center ] where also participated in a local choir "Svatove Cossacks".<ref name=meet_mozgovoy/> Just before the "Russian Spring" in Ukraine, Mozgovoy was a ] in ] supposedly as a cook.<ref name=meet_mozgovoy>. Espreso TV. 16 May 2014</ref> During the east Ukrainian revolt in 2014, he became a local warlord heading the military formation "Prizrak" (''Ghost''). Mozgovoy pledged his allegiance to ]. Unofficially his militant group is known as the "Antratsyt Cossacks".<ref>. DS News. 22 September 2014</ref>

			He was assassinated in Donbas, with multiple theories about who was responsible circulating initially,<ref>{{cite web\|url=http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/ukraine-crisis-who-killed-rebel-leaders-alexei-mozgovoy-alexandr-batman-bednov-1504388\|title=Ukraine crisis: Who killed rebel leaders Alexei Mozgovoy and Alexandr 'Batman' Bednov?\|author=Orlando Crowcroft\|work=International Business Times\|date=4 June 2015\|access-date=16 October 2016}}</ref> ultimately witness statements pointing at Russian forces.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite web \|date=2018-05-24 \|title=Не того ''кровавым пастором'' прозвали: Гиркин ''пролил свет'' на ликвидацию главаря ''ЛНР'' \|url=https://incident.obozrevatel.com/crime/ne-togo-krovavyim-pastorom-prozvali-girkin-prolil-svet-na-likvidatsiyu-glavarya-lnr.htm \|access-date=2023-07-05 \|website=Oboz-Incident \|language=ru}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Citation \|title="Теперь уже можно это рассказать!" Гиркин признал, что Мозгового ликвидировал генерал ГРУ Алексеев \|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6L-prWks_pM \|access-date=2023-07-05 \|language=en}}</ref> In 2020 he was found guilty posthumously by a separatist court of a murder-for-hire of a family and crippling of a ten-year-old child.<ref>{{Cite web \|title=Luhansk militant court admits Donbas "hero" was a criminal who killed a family for money \|url=https://khpg.org//en/1586112422 \|access-date=2023-07-05 \|website=Human Rights in Ukraine}}</ref>
	In October 2014 he headed a "people's court" that produced a death sentence against a suspect accused of rape by asking the audience to raise hands.<ref>{{cite web \| url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/ukraine/11201446/Rebels-in-Ukraine-post-video-of-peoples-court-sentencing-man-to-death.html \| title=Rebels in Ukraine 'post video of people’s court sentencing man to death' \| publisher=Telegraph \| date=2014-10-31 \| accessdate=2014-11-05}}</ref><ref>{{cite web \| url=http://http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-29876687 \| title=Ukraine conflict: Summary justice in rebel east \| publisher=BBC \| date= 3 November 2014 \| accessdate=}}</ref> Mozgovoy also answered questions from the audience, explaining that he ordered his patrols to "arrest any woman found sitting in a pub or cafe" because women "should care about their spirituality".<ref>{{cite web \| url=http://www.gazeta.ru/comments/2014/11/05_e_6289401.shtml \| title=По морали военного времени \|trans_title=By the rules of war time\| publisher=Gazeta.ru \| date=2014-11-05 \| accessdate=2014-11-05}}</ref><ref>{{cite web \| url=http://lenta.ru/news/2014/11/04/trial/ \| title=В Алчевске ополченцы запретили женщинам посещать кафе \| publisher=Lenta \| date=2014-11-05 \| accessdate=2014-11-05\|trans_title=In Alchevsk insurgents forbidden women from sitting in cafe}}</ref>

			== Biography ==
			Mozgovoy was born in the village of ], ], ] located in the eastern part of Ukraine. Mozgovoy grew up in ] township where he participated in a local choir, the ''Svatove Cossacks''.<ref name=meet_mozgovoy/> Just before the ], Mozgovoy was a guest worker employed as a cook in ].<ref name=meet_mozgovoy>{{cite news\|url=http://espreso.tv/article/2014/05/16/putin_stavyt_na_shapkovykh_atamaniv_na_donbasi\|script-title=uk:Путін ставить на шапкових отаманів. Луганщина\|trans-title=Putin bets on the "capped" atamans. Luhansk region\|language=uk\|work=Espreso TV\|date=16 May 2014}}</ref>

			In 2014, during conflict in eastern Ukraine, he became commander of the military formation "Prizrak" (''Ghost''). Unofficially, his armed group was known as the ''Antratsyt Cossacks''.<ref>{{cite news \|url=http://www.dsnews.ua/politics/chomu-terorist-mozgoviy-poshle-na-tri-bukvi-generala-novorosiyi--22092014123100\|script-title=uk:Чому терорист Мозговий пошле на три букви «генерала Новоросії» Бєса\|trans-title=Why terrorist Mozgovoy tells the "General of Novorossiya" Bes to piss off\|language=uk\|work=DS News\|date=22 September 2014}}</ref> Mozgovoy was allied with ], the Donetsk People's Republic minister for defense. He was known for infighting with other ] (LPR) rebels.<ref name=infighting>{{cite news\|author=Kirill Mikhailov\|author2=Mat Babiak\|title=Something is rotten in the Luhansk Republic\|url=http://ukrainianpolicy.com/something-is-rotten-in-the-luhansk-republic/\|access-date=25 May 2015\|publisher=Ukrainian Policy\|date=6 January 2015}}</ref> Mozgovoy had contact with the leader of the ], ], and the leader of ], ].<ref name="d1">{{cite news\|url=http://www.unian.info/war/1081359-avakovs-adviser-mozgovoy-eliminated-by-russias-gru-special-forces.html\|title=Avakov's adviser: Mozgovoy eliminated by Russia's GRU special forces\|date=23 May 2015\|access-date=25 May 2015\|agency=UNIAN}}</ref><ref>{{cite news\|title=Ukraine crisis: Inside pro-Russia militia training camp \|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-27447264 \|newspaper=BBC \|date=19 May 2014 \|access-date=25 May 2015 \|url-status = dead\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141012154552/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-27447264 \|archive-date=12 October 2014 }}</ref>

			Prior to his death, Mozgovoy's Prizrak brigade had been having supply issues due to his refusal to join the formal LPR power structure. It had dwindled from 3,000 fighters to several hundred. Mozgovoy and two of his colleagues, Andrey Kozlov and Anna Samelyuk, decided to move into politics and, with the assistance of the ] (OSCE), sent an application to Kyiv to register the political party ''Narodnoye vozrozhdeniye'' (National Renewal).{{Citation needed\|date=July 2023}}

			It was sent to Kyiv instead of to Lugansk as a proper legal process did not yet exist in the LPR for the registration of political parties. The application was received by Ukraine's ] on May 5, and accepted by May 8, thus becoming the first and only political party registered by Ukraine that originated in one of the breakaway rebel territories, and the only one that Ukraine would recognize legally according to the ] peace agreement.{{citation needed\|date=February 2020}}

			On May 8, 2015, there was an international anti-fascist forum in the city of ] in the LPR, which included around 100 attendees, including OSCE members.{{citation needed\|date=December 2019}} By the evening, the registration of the new party had become widely known among the attendees. The following day, the LPR authorities denied Mozgovoy permission to stage a ] parade.

			=== Death ===
			Mozgovoy was killed in an ] of his motorcade on the road between ] and ], near the village of ], on Saturday, May 23, 2015. A roadside bombing was followed by ] fire.<ref>{{cite news\|author=Radina Gigova\|url=http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/24/europe/ukraine-separatist-commander-killed/index.html\|title=Separatist commander killed in eastern Ukraine\|date=25 May 2015\|access-date=9 July 2015\|publisher=CNN.com}}</ref><ref>{{Citation\|title= Видео с места убийства Мозгового. Михайловка\|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mx31_vn6-i8\|language=en\|access-date=2019-05-03}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news\|agency=Agence France-Presse\|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/may/24/ukraine-separatist-commander-leader-killed-in-car-bomb\|title=Separatist commander killed in Ukraine\|date=2015-05-24\|work=The Guardian\|access-date=2019-05-03\|language=en-GB\|issn=0261-3077}}</ref> Mozgovoy, press secretary Anna Samelyuk, a driver, and six bodyguards were killed.<ref>{{cite news\|url=http://en.apa.az/xeber_commander_of____ghost____brigade__lpr_army___227483.html\|title=Commander of 'Ghost' brigade (LPR Army) Aleksey Mozgovoy was assassinated\|date=23 May 2015\|access-date=23 May 2015\|url-status=dead\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150724171156/http://en.apa.az/xeber_commander_of____ghost____brigade__lpr_army___227483.html\|archive-date=24 July 2015\|publisher=]\|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite news\|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-32861947\|title=Ukraine crisis: Rebel commander Alexei Mozgovoi 'killed'\|date=23 May 2015\|work=BBC News}}</ref>

			Mozgovoy had survived a similar assassination attempt in the same area two months before. He was said to be dismissive of threats to his life.<ref>{{cite web\|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/ukraine-crisis-the-last-days-of-aleksey-mozgovoi-rebel-hero-of-the-ghost-battalion-killed-in-an-10273837.html \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151202050806/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/ukraine-crisis-the-last-days-of-aleksey-mozgovoi-rebel-hero-of-the-ghost-battalion-killed-in-an-10273837.html \|archive-date=2015-12-02 \|url-access=limited \|url-status=live\|title=Ukraine crisis: The last days of Aleksey Mozgovoi, rebel hero of the 'Ghost' battalion - killed in an ambush\|author=Oliver Carroll\|date=24 May 2015\|work=The Independent\|access-date=10 September 2015}}</ref>

			The LPR press service attributed the attack to unspecified "saboteurs".<ref>{{cite news\|url=http://www.kyivpost.com/content/kyiv-post-plus/russian-backed-military-commander-assassinated-after-speaking-out-against-cease-fire-389345.html\|title=Russian-backed military commander assassinated after speaking out against cease-fire\|date=23 May 2015\|newspaper=Kyiv Post\|access-date=25 May 2015}}</ref> Surviving leaders of the Prizrak Brigade stated that Ukrainian commandos were responsible, and they called on their supporters not to spread false rumors.<ref>{{cite web\|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/ukraine/11627349/Ukrainian-separatist-warlord-assassinated-by-land-mine.html\|title=Ukrainian separatist warlord assassinated by land-mine\|author=Roland Oliphant\|date=24 May 2015\|work=The Telegraph\|access-date=16 October 2016}}</ref> Anton Gerashchenko, the adviser to the Ukrainian ], said Mozgovoy had been assassinated by Russian ].<ref name="d1" /><ref>{{Cite web\|url=http://www.novayagazeta.ru/inquests/67915.html\|title=Управление ФСБ по "Русскому миру"\|access-date=2015-07-20}}</ref> Mozgovoy's supporters widely believed that ], the head of the LNR, was responsible for his death.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web\|url=http://www.interpretermag.com/who-killed-prizrak-commander-aleksei-mozgovoy/\|title=Who Killed Prizrak Commander Aleksei Mozgovoy?\|website=www.interpretermag.com\|access-date=2019-05-03}}</ref>

			On May 23, 2016, a statue of Mozgovoy was erected in Alchevsk, in the LPR.<ref>{{Cite web\|url=https://ukropnews24.com/in-lc-a-monument-to-the-brigade-commander-ghost-brain/\|title=In LC, a monument to the brigade commander "Ghost" Brain\|date=2016-05-24\|website=Ukrop News 24}}{{dead link\|date=May 2020\|bot=medic}}{{cbignore\|bot=medic}}</ref>

			In 2020 a court in the unrecognized Luhansk People's Republic determined that Mozgovoy and fellow Prizrak brigade member Aleksandr Kostin had planned and commanded the 2014 ambush and murder of a family for cash. Oleh and Iryna Burykhin were shot dead in their car, and their ten-year-old daughter Liza was left an invalid from her wounds.<ref>{{Cite web\|url=http://khpg.org/en/index.php?id=1586112422\|title=Luhansk militant court admits Donbas "hero" was a criminal who killed a family for money\|last=Coynash\|first=Halya\|date=2020-04-22\|website=Human Rights in Ukraine\|access-date=2020-04-24}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web\|url=http://deniskazansky.com.ua/kak_mozgovoj_ubil_semju_na_9_maja/\|title=Подвиг героя Новороссии. Как Мозговой расстрелял целую семью\|last=Казанский\|first=Денис\|date=2020-02-06\|website=Блог Дениса Казанского (Denis Kazanskiy’s Blog)\|language=ru-RU\|trans-title=Achievement of a hero of Novorossiya. How Mozgovoy shot down a whole family.\|access-date=2020-04-24\|archive-date=2020-05-04\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200504163507/http://deniskazansky.com.ua/kak_mozgovoj_ubil_semju_na_9_maja\|url-status=dead}}</ref>

			In 2018 ] revealed that Mozgovoy was killed by Russians on orders from ] but withheld any further details,<ref name=":1" /> in 2023 he openly stated that the assassination was conducted by "Wagner" group on orders from ] first deputy head of ].<ref name=":2" />

			==Controversy==
			In October 2014 Mozgovoy presided over a so-called "people's court" ({{langx\|ru\|Народный суд}}) that issued a death sentence against a suspect accused of rape by asking the audience to raise hands.<ref>{{cite web\|author=Allison Quinn \|url=http://www.kyivpost.com/content/kyiv-post-plus/russian-backed-military-commander-assassinated-after-speaking-out-against-cease-fire-389345.html \|title=Russian-backed military commander assassinated after speaking out against cease-fire \|publisher=Kyivpost.com \|date=23 May 2015 \|access-date=9 July 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web\|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/ukraine/11201446/Rebels-in-Ukraine-post-video-of-peoples-court-sentencing-man-to-death.html\|title=Rebels in Ukraine 'post video of people's court sentencing man to death'\| publisher=The Telegraph\|date=31 October 2014\|access-date=5 October 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news\|author=Dina Newman\|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-29876687\|title=Ukraine conflict: Summary justice in rebel east\|publisher=BBC\|date=3 November 2014\|access-date=9 July 2015}}</ref> Answering questions from the audience afterward, Mozgovoy said that he ordered his patrols to "arrest any woman found sitting in a pub or cafe".

			The statement that caused the controversy was:
			{{blockquote\|If tomorrow I see in a cafe, in a pub even one young lady, she will be arrested ... А woman should be the guardian of the hearth, the mother. And what kind of mothers do they become after pubs? ... A woman should stay in the house baking ] and only celebrate on the ]. It is time to remember that you are Russian! It is time to get your spirituality back!{{citation needed\|date=February 2020}}}}

			After the statement caused a significant critical response in Russian media, he had to explain that he said that because he thought that women "should care about their safety", that the intention of the statement was to make people think about morals and that he was not going to arrest anyone.<ref>{{cite news\|url=http://www.gazeta.ru/comments/2014/11/05_e_6289401.shtml\|script-title=ru:По морали военного времени\|trans-title=By the morals of war time\|language=ru\|agency=Gazeta.ru\|date=5 November 2014\|access-date=5 November 2014}}</ref><ref name="informator.lg.ua">{{cite web\|url=http://informator.lg.ua/?p=45781\|script-title=ru:Мозговой отказался от собственных слов и заявил, что девушек арестовывать не будет\|trans-title=Mozgovoy renounced his own words and stated that he won't arrest young women\|date=6 November 2014\|publisher=Informator.lg.ua\|language=ru\|access-date=8 November 2014}}</ref> Despite this, in an interview to '']'' on 17 November 2014, Mozgovoy claimed that "young girls who need to give birth to children so that there is no demographic crisis are ruining their bodies instead", underlining that "in the old days was it generally forbidden for a girl to sit at the table Because she is a mother first and foremost. But what kind of mother will she be if she ruined her body with alcohol, and now also with drugs?".<ref>{{Cite web \|last=Burskaya \|first=Zinaida \|date=2014-11-17 \|title=Сами себе государство \|url=https://novayagazeta.ru/politics/66119.html \|url-status=live \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141117224122/https://novayagazeta.ru/politics/66119.html \|archive-date=2014-11-17 \|access-date= \|website=]}}</ref>

			== See also ==
			{{div col}}
			* ]
			* ]
			*
			* ]
			* ]
			* ]
			* ]
			* ]
			* ]

			{{div col end}}

			== Notes ==
			{{notelist}}

	==References==		==References==
	{{~~reflist~~}}		{{Reflist\|2}}

	==External links==		==External links==
			{{Wikiquote}}
			{{Commons category\|Aleksey Mozgovoy}}
	*		*
	* at the Novorossiya Information agency
	*
	* . ]. 19 May 2014		* . ]. 19 May 2014

	{{~~2014 pro-Russian unrest~~ in ~~Ukraine~~}}		{{War in Donbas}}
			{{Authority control}}

	{{Persondata
	\| NAME = Mozgovoy, Aleksey
	\| ALTERNATIVE NAMES = Мозговой, Алексей; Мозговий, Олексій; Mozhovyj, Oleksiy
	\| SHORT DESCRIPTION = pro-Russian separatist and warlord in Eastern Ukraine
	\| DATE OF BIRTH = 3 April 1975
	\| PLACE OF BIRTH =
	\| DATE OF DEATH =
	\| PLACE OF DEATH =
	}}

	{{DEFAULTSORT:Mozgovoy, Aleksey}}		{{DEFAULTSORT:Mozgovoy, Aleksey}}
	]
	]		]
	]		]
			]
			]
			]
			]
	]		]
	]		]
			]
			]
			]
			]
			]

Latest revision as of 04:01, 16 January 2025

Pro-Russian rebel and warlord in Eastern Ukraine

Aleksey Mozgovoy
Mozgovoy in 2014
Born	(1975-04-03)3 April 1975 Nyzhnia Duvanka, Svatove Raion, Voroshilovgrad Oblast, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
Died	23 May 2015(2015-05-23) (aged 40) near Mykhailivka, Luhansk Oblast, Ukraine
Allegiance	Lugansk People's Republic
Service / branch	Novorossiya Armed Forces
Years of service	2014–2015 (Novorossiya)
Rank	Senior sergeant (Ukraine) Kombrig (Novorossiya)
Unit	Prizrak Brigade
Battles / wars	Russo-Ukrainian War War in Donbas Siege of Sloviansk Battle of Debaltseve

Aleksey Borisovich Mozgovoy (Russian: Алексе́й Бори́сович Мозгово́й; Ukrainian: Олексі́й Бори́сович Мозгови́й, romanized: Oleksii Borysovych Mozghovyi; 3 April 1975 – 23 May 2015) was a commander of the Russian-installed separatist Luhansk People's Republic in Ukraine. He was the leader of the pro-Russian Prizrak Brigade.

He was assassinated in Donbas, with multiple theories about who was responsible circulating initially, ultimately witness statements pointing at Russian forces. In 2020 he was found guilty posthumously by a separatist court of a murder-for-hire of a family and crippling of a ten-year-old child.

Biography

Mozgovoy was born in the village of Nyzhnia Duvanka, Svatove Raion, Luhansk Oblast located in the eastern part of Ukraine. Mozgovoy grew up in Svatove township where he participated in a local choir, the Svatove Cossacks. Just before the 2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Mozgovoy was a guest worker employed as a cook in Saint Petersburg.

In 2014, during conflict in eastern Ukraine, he became commander of the military formation "Prizrak" (Ghost). Unofficially, his armed group was known as the Antratsyt Cossacks. Mozgovoy was allied with Igor Girkin, the Donetsk People's Republic minister for defense. He was known for infighting with other Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) rebels. Mozgovoy had contact with the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, and the leader of A Just Russia, Sergei Mironov.

Prior to his death, Mozgovoy's Prizrak brigade had been having supply issues due to his refusal to join the formal LPR power structure. It had dwindled from 3,000 fighters to several hundred. Mozgovoy and two of his colleagues, Andrey Kozlov and Anna Samelyuk, decided to move into politics and, with the assistance of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), sent an application to Kyiv to register the political party Narodnoye vozrozhdeniye (National Renewal).

It was sent to Kyiv instead of to Lugansk as a proper legal process did not yet exist in the LPR for the registration of political parties. The application was received by Ukraine's Ministry of Justice on May 5, and accepted by May 8, thus becoming the first and only political party registered by Ukraine that originated in one of the breakaway rebel territories, and the only one that Ukraine would recognize legally according to the Minsk II peace agreement.

On May 8, 2015, there was an international anti-fascist forum in the city of Alchevsk in the LPR, which included around 100 attendees, including OSCE members. By the evening, the registration of the new party had become widely known among the attendees. The following day, the LPR authorities denied Mozgovoy permission to stage a May 9 Victory Day parade.

Death

Mozgovoy was killed in an ambush of his motorcade on the road between Luhansk and Alchevsk, near the village of Mykhailivka, Perevalsk Raion, on Saturday, May 23, 2015. A roadside bombing was followed by machine-gun fire. Mozgovoy, press secretary Anna Samelyuk, a driver, and six bodyguards were killed.

Mozgovoy had survived a similar assassination attempt in the same area two months before. He was said to be dismissive of threats to his life.

The LPR press service attributed the attack to unspecified "saboteurs". Surviving leaders of the Prizrak Brigade stated that Ukrainian commandos were responsible, and they called on their supporters not to spread false rumors. Anton Gerashchenko, the adviser to the Ukrainian minister for internal affairs, said Mozgovoy had been assassinated by Russian GRU special forces. Mozgovoy's supporters widely believed that Igor Plotnitsky, the head of the LNR, was responsible for his death.

On May 23, 2016, a statue of Mozgovoy was erected in Alchevsk, in the LPR.

In 2020 a court in the unrecognized Luhansk People's Republic determined that Mozgovoy and fellow Prizrak brigade member Aleksandr Kostin had planned and commanded the 2014 ambush and murder of a family for cash. Oleh and Iryna Burykhin were shot dead in their car, and their ten-year-old daughter Liza was left an invalid from her wounds.

In 2018 Igor Girkin revealed that Mozgovoy was killed by Russians on orders from Igor Plotnitsky but withheld any further details, in 2023 he openly stated that the assassination was conducted by "Wagner" group on orders from Vladimir Alekseyev first deputy head of GRU.

Controversy

In October 2014 Mozgovoy presided over a so-called "people's court" (Russian: Народный суд) that issued a death sentence against a suspect accused of rape by asking the audience to raise hands. Answering questions from the audience afterward, Mozgovoy said that he ordered his patrols to "arrest any woman found sitting in a pub or cafe".

The statement that caused the controversy was:

If tomorrow I see in a cafe, in a pub even one young lady, she will be arrested ... А woman should be the guardian of the hearth, the mother. And what kind of mothers do they become after pubs? ... A woman should stay in the house baking pirozhki and only celebrate on the International Women's Day. It is time to remember that you are Russian! It is time to get your spirituality back!

After the statement caused a significant critical response in Russian media, he had to explain that he said that because he thought that women "should care about their safety", that the intention of the statement was to make people think about morals and that he was not going to arrest anyone. Despite this, in an interview to Novaya Gazeta on 17 November 2014, Mozgovoy claimed that "young girls who need to give birth to children so that there is no demographic crisis are ruining their bodies instead", underlining that "in the old days was it generally forbidden for a girl to sit at the table Because she is a mother first and foremost. But what kind of mother will she be if she ruined her body with alcohol, and now also with drugs?".