It's alleged that Igor Mangushev was shot at close range in the back of the head at a checkpoint in the Russian-controlled Luhansk region by a small calibre pistol. His wife believes he was executed, possibly in some power struggle between Russian factions.
Last summer he was seen on stage brandishing a skull he said was from a Ukrainian soldier.
Source: Radio Free Europe
Russian Army officer Igor Mangushev, who gained prominence last year for speaking on stage holding what he said was the skull of a Ukrainian soldier while calling for the death of "as many Ukrainian soldiers as necessary," has died in a hospital after sustaining a gunshot wound to his head.
Mangushev's associate, Akim Apachev, said on February 8 that the anti-Ukraine propagandist had been in a coma since being shot on February 4 at a checkpoint near the town of Kadiyivka in a part of Ukraine's Luhansk region, which is controlled by Russia-backed separatists.
It remains unclear who shot Mangushev and why. Some media reports say he was shot at close proximity.
Last August, a video showing Mangushev holding the skull of what he said was a Ukrainian soldier at a concert circulated around the Internet and sparked an outcry in Ukraine.
Mangushev said in the video that the skull belonged to a Ukrainian soldier who had been killed during Russia's invasion of the Ukrainian city of Mariupol. He added that Russia, which invaded Ukraine in February 2022, was fighting against "the idea of Ukraine as an anti-Russia state," adding that "all who support that idea must be eliminated."
