War

Formed PMC and fought against Ukraine: criminal “Armen Horlivskyi” received suspicion (video)

The SBU and the National Police have suspected a criminal authority from the time of Viktor Yanukovych’s presidency of recruiting prisoners for the war against Ukraine. This is reported by Komersant ukrainskyi with reference to the Telegram channel of the Security Service of Ukraine.

The man in question is Armen Sargsyan, nicknamed Armen Horlivskyi. Since May 2014, the man, who was a member of the inner circle of fugitive President Viktor Yanukovych, has been on the international wanted list for organizing murders in the center of Kyiv.

After the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian armed forces, the criminal was tasked by the FSB to create a new armed formation to fight against the Ukrainian military. The militant group, headed by Sargsyan, was named the separate special forces battalion “ArBAT”. It consisted mainly of repeat offenders convicted of serious crimes (murder, robbery).

In order to recruit prisoners, the Russian secret service appointed Sargsyan as a so-called “supervisor” of prisons in the temporarily occupied part of Donetsk region. At first, ArBAT fought in the Toretsk sector, and later the group was transferred to the Kursk region (Russia) to deter the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

Thus, Sargsyan was suspected of voluntary participation in illegal armed or paramilitary groups and aiding the aggressor state, committed by an organized group of persons by prior conspiracy. The sanctions of the charged articles provide for up to fifteen years of imprisonment with disqualification to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for a term of ten to fifteen years and with or without confiscation of property.

What is known about Armen Sargsyan

The future criminal mastermind was born in Horlivka, Donetsk region. He headed the Donetsk Regional Boxing Federation.

He was associated with another criminal, former MP Yuriy Ivanyushchenko (Yura Yenakiyevsky). He was wanted as one of the organizers of the Maidan killings, but was not punished.

After the occupation of the city in 2014, Sargsyan expanded his influence: he was awarded the titles of “Honorary Resident of Horlivka” and “Honorary President of the Boxing Federation of the Donetsk People’s Republic”. In the city, the criminal organized concerts of Russian performers and was engaged in the restaurant business.

In April 2018, it was reported that Sargsyan was detained in France and was under extradition arrest. The Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine expressed its intention to file documents for his extradition as soon as possible, but “Armen Horlivskyi” again escaped punishment. After the information about his alleged arrest appeared, Armen Sargsyan stated that he was in Russia and had not been detained in France.

In February 2024, the Russian media reported that Sargsyan had staged a shootout in the center of Moscow. This happened because the criminal’s daughter, Emilia Sargsyan, was involved in an accident near the Golden Ring Hotel. To solve the problem, the girl called her father. Together with his bodyguards, he came to Plyushchyha in a black Gelendvagen. Then a showdown with two men from the second car began. The latter were injured with rubber bullets and began to fight back.