31/01/2024
"Our subscribers are working in London! Cleaning the streets of blue and yellow crap." That text was posted on Russian social networks about the activities of participants in the "Russian patriots' movement" in London, which consisted of desecrating monuments, provoking Ukrainian rallies, and spreading Soviet ideology.
Analysts at Molfar have unmasked these Russians despite their strong desire for anonymity. We publish a chronology of events and reveal private information about the unmasked Russians. One of them is a citizen of Great Britain.
Cut the flowers near the monument to Volodymyr Velykyi in London
On January 27, 2024, an event caused a stir on social networks. It's about a video that first appeared in Russian Telegram communities (1, 2). In this video, a man, likely Russian, commits an act of vandalism in the heart of London. The incident occurred near the monument to Volodymyr Velykyi (Volodymyr the Great) — the Grand Duke of Kyiv — where the Russians cut and discarded flowers.
The actual source of the video is the community of the RPM— "Russian patriots' movement" (russian — Движение русских патриотов"), which is active on social networks, Russian VK, and Telegram.
Screenshots from the video show an unknown person throwing flowers away from the monument to Volodymyr the Great with a smile on their face.
The next day, the same Russian community published two photos (1, 2) featuring individuals whose faces were covered with the emblems of the "DRP" movement, along with the following caption:
"The DRP tour in London continues. Greetings to the raging "ukries" (this is the word that Russians use to disparage Ukrainians). We are many, and we are everywhere! Also, our comrades recently visited a gathering of Ukrainians in the very center of the city. Looked solid, like KGB agents. Materials will be published later."
These so-called "KGB agents" indeed attended a rally in London and recorded a video there. In it, you can see the movement's logo and the emblem of the Soviet NKVD service, with a reference to the Telegram community Kyzyl Battalion (Inst, TG).
In the video, a guy with a blurred face talks about how Ukrainians use British citizens' funds. He uses phrases like "our money" and “in our country”.
The video also captured distinctive features used to identify the individuals who participated in the filming.
However, the creators of the video left another clue for finding them — they tagged an Instagram user who might have been involved in the shooting. He is identified as Platov Ilya Sergeyevitch / Платов Илья Сергеевич (20.01.2002, Inst, PayPal, VK, TG-channel). He describes himself as a “reporter, translator, independent, truth teller, musician.”
Kyril Sarukhanov — is a fighter for communism in Great Britain.
On Instagram, Platov posted photos (1, 2) where he tagged three likely participants in all the published videos in Russian groups. Here is the face of the key person — the man who appeared during the Ukrainian rally. He has a distinctive striped tie.
If you visit the page of russian_authoritarian_rusv4, you can find a lot of exciting information. Firstly, this person refers to themselves as a "Communist from Russia." There are also mentions of Stalin, the Kremlin, and the Gulag. At the beginning of their bio, there's the phrase "груз-200 мы вместе," (load-200 we are together) was often seen on the patches of Wagner PMC fighters and personally associated with Prigozhin.
Likely, this page is not their primary one. It was created in June 2022. The avatar appears to be the same person photographed near the Russian embassy and participated in the videos published by the Kyzyl Battalion community. This is one of the participants in the videos we discussed earlier.
With the help of the search system Pim Eyes, Molfar analysts found a student at Eaton Square Schools and a woman named Tatiana Sarukhanova. Tatiana lives in London and has posted photos of her son. This is Kirill Artyomovich Sarukhanov (15.09.2005, Inst, Inst2, VK, YT).
Kirill Sarukhanov lives in London, and he is likely a British citizen. It is confirmed that Kirill is the author of the Instagram page with the username “russian_authoritarian_rusv4.”
We have also found Kirill's profile on the Russian social network VK. There, he follows the community "Движение Русских Патриотов | ДРП" (Russian patriots' movement | RPM). He indicates that he lives in London and has liked posts related to the flower cutting near the monument in London and photos near the Russian embassy (1, 2).
According to Kirill's mother's Facebook profile, their family consists of five people. In 2017, Kirill and his mother and sister participated in the "Immortal Regiment" parade in London. He was dressed in elements of the Soviet army uniform (1, 2, 3), wore St. George ribbons, and carried a photo of his grandfather, who he claims served in the 106th Tank Division.
Kirill Sarukhanov's family
Tatyana Valeryevna Sarukhanova
Date of birth: 27.02.1976
Social: FB, Inst, VK, OK, ОК2, TW,
TG id: 1125061832
Email: [email protected]
Russian Passport: 4503902903, ІПН: 772855781840
The mother is a photographer who lives in London. In 2020, she posted a photo on Facebook of her daughter at the "Immortal Regiment" parade in London with a photo of her husband's father, "Sarukhanov Melik Artemovich," and St. George ribbons.
Sarukhanov Artyom Alexandrovych
Date of birth: 28.10.1976
Phone: +79163355485
Father. In 1998, he graduated from Queen Mary University of London. Subsequently, until 2000, he worked as a Crude Oil Trader at the oil and gas company Taurus Petroleum. From 2002 to 2004, he served as a Commercial Executive at the publicly traded oil and gas company Aminex PLC.
Afterward, for nine years, until 2015, he was a Business Development Manager at Worley (Revenue 2023: $11b), a publicly traded company specializing in designing and installing energy solutions. In parallel, starting in 2008, he became a Business Development Manager at the British property management company 22 Westbourne Terrace Freehold Limited. From 2020 to 2023, he worked as a Business Development Manager at Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co., Ltd in London.
He left a comment on Li's post about war, in which he does not acknowledge Russian aggression against Ukraine and accuses the West.
Date of birth: 27.07.1997
Email: [email protected]
Russian Passport: 4513060593, TIN: 772855781913, 772746230828
Brother, born in Russia, is currently a citizen of the United Kingdom. He holds dual citizenship. Since April 2023, he has been a senior sales executive at Gatwick Advisory Group.
Sarukhanov Kiril Artyomovich (15.09.2005, Inst, Inst2, VK, YT).
Given that Kirill's brother Nikita Sarukhanov is a British citizen, it is likely that Kirill is a British citizen, too.
Sarukhanova Sofya Artyomovna — a sister.
What is the "Kyzyl Battalion"
Another person who participated in the videos is Roman (Inst, Inst2, TG-channel, VK). He was also tagged on Ilya Platov's page.
Among the posts on the Inst Kyzyl Battalion page, distinctive videos (1, 2, 3) were published featuring an individual who bears a resemblance in appearance and body shape to the person posted in the January 28, 2024, post by the "Движение русских патриотов" community near the Russian embassy.
In the TG community Kyzyl Battalion, videos are also published, with two individuals participating, Ilya Platov. Considering Ilya's known place of residence, the video shoot takes place in London.
While editing one of the videos published on the TG channel, a sticker was carelessly placed on the face, resulting in a profile view of the person, who resembles the one photographed near the Russian embassy and cutting flowers near the monument in London, being captured in the frame.
Kirill Sarukhanov is the Russian individual who disdainfully cuts flowers near the monument to the Grand Duke of Kyiv — Volodymyr Velykyi in London. He is a member of the "Kyzyl Battalion" movement. This "movement" appears to consist of three individuals: Kirill Sarukhanov, Ilya Platov, and an individual named Roman.
In the "Kyzyl Battalion" videos, Kirill can be seen wearing the same camouflage jacket, pants, and sneakers as the person in the video cutting flowers. Three individuals are involved in various clips: one is Ilya, and the other two are Kirill and Roman. The filming takes place in London, indicating that these men reside there.
These individuals wanted to remain anonymous but posted numerous videos and photos online, boasting about their "achievements" as representatives of true "Russian patriots" in the "decaying Europe."