An extremist group has been linked to a Winnipeg terrorism-related case. What is M.K.Y.?

Arturo Chang · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 24, 2025 6:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

WARNING: This communicative contains references to and images of antisemitic graffiti.

A racially and ethnically motivated extremist radical constabulary accidental has been linked to an antisemitic vandalism lawsuit successful Winnipeg draws its hateful ideology from galore sources but is yet fuelled by a consciousness of nihilism, experts say.

Manitoba RCMP said past week they charged 19-year-old Nevin Young with 4 terrorism-related charges aft an probe recovered links to online radicalization and a convulsive extremist radical called M.K.Y.

He had previously been charged with spray-painting antisemitic graffiti connected buildings, fences and different objects. The letters "M.K.Y." were besides tagged astir Winnipeg's Charleswood country precocious past year.

The abbreviation "M.K.Y." comes from the Russian for "Maniac Murder Cult," according to the Global Network connected Extremism and Technology — 1 of respective names the radical goes by, on with "Maniacs: Cult of Killing," "MMC" and "MKU."

Though it originated successful Russia and Ukraine, it present has members astir the world, according to a 2024 study published by West Point subject academy's Combating Terrorism Center, which drew from publically disposable sources specified as court filings and from M.K.Y. posts.

Members purport to believe in an "aggressive signifier of nationalist socialism," rooted successful among different things, "extreme misanthropy" and "theistic Satanism," according to the American subject academy's report.

Court documents from the indictment of an alleged M.K.Y. leader in the U.S. past twelvemonth accidental the group promotes a "neo-Nazi accelerationist ideology" that encourages unit toward Jewish radical and different "undesirables."

"They're portion of a web [of groups] benignant of defined by nihilism," said Evan Balgord, enforcement manager of the Canadian Anti-Hate Network.

M.K.Y. is "notable successful that they truly promote offline violence," helium said.

'Mass casualty attack' planned successful NYC: FBI

The July 2024 U.S. indictment accuses Georgia national Michail Chkhikvishvili, a past 20-year-old who went by "Commander Butcher" and different aliases, of readying and recruiting for a "mass casualty attack" that was acceptable to instrumentality spot successful New York City during New Year's Eve successful 2023.

The documents say that connected oregon astir Nov. 2 of that year, "Butcher" sent instructions to an FBI cause posing arsenic a imaginable enlistee about a plan to person idiosyncratic dress up arsenic Santa Claus and manus retired poisoned candy to radical minorities, including Jewish children.

Chkhikvishvili was arrested successful Moldova connected July 6 nether an Interpol wanted idiosyncratic alert.

The U.S. Department of Justice said successful an email he's inactive pending extradition from Moldova, and that it cannot stock immoderate further details connected the investigation.

If convicted, helium faces up to 20 years successful prison.

An April 2024 affidavit filed by an FBI cause said Chkhikvishvili is the writer of the "Hater's Handbook," a substance widely circulated among M.K.Y. members calling for taste cleansing and encouraging school shootings oregon using children for bombings and different wide killings.

The West Point study said M.K.Y. "seeks to emulate serial killers and different wide murderers," like the gunman involved successful a 2020 wide sidesplitting astatine a mosque successful Christchurch, New Zealand, oregon Americans similar the Zodiac Killer and the Unabomber. 

Chkhikvishvili is besides alleged to person shared manuals connected however to physique explosive devices, perpetrate arson, and onslaught and termination victims with "knives, hammers, screwdrivers and different weapons," according to the FBI affidavit.

In 1 message, helium told the undercover cause helium could "do bigger enactment than Breivik without getting caught," referencing the neo-Nazi who killed 77 radical successful Norway successful 2011.

Members indispensable stock videos of violence: report

Groups similar M.K.Y. are populated by radical who are "disillusioned with society," said Georgios Samaras, an adjunct prof of nationalist argumentation astatine King's College London who specializes successful extremism.

"Their extremity is to prosecute successful home violent activities. They dispersed fearfulness and they're trying to amplify their hatred speech," helium said.

The 2024 FBI agent's affidavit said M.K.Y. members regularly pass and enlistee done radical chats successful an "untraceable" societal media platform.

Channels successful the platform "have been utilized to stock videos depicting and encouraging acts of unit connected behalf of M.K.Y., including what look to beryllium beatings, stabbings and different assaults," she wrote.

Balgord said M.K.Y. peculiarly targets susceptible people for recruitment, and that, arsenic with other online extremist groups, members thin to beryllium young people.

"These are radical who profoundly hatred themselves, profoundly hatred others," Balgord said. "They exposure themselves to horrific images and videos that benignant of desensitises them to violence."

The West Point study said radical indispensable transportation retired a "violent oregon transgression attack" to articulation M.K.Y., and that members are expected to movie oregon livestream the acts.

"We inquire radical for brutal beating, arson/explosion oregon execution vids connected camera," Chkhikvishvili told the undercover FBI agent, according to the FBI affidavit.

The West Point study said grounds of "M.K.Y.-style" videos of transgression acts and unit tin beryllium recovered arsenic acold backmost arsenic 2018. By 2019, radical utilizing the group's sanction were claiming authorship of videos showing attacks connected stateless people.

The alleged person of the group, Yegor Krasnov, was arrested successful eastbound Ukraine successful 2020, and determination person besides been M.K.Y.-related arrests successful Romanian and the U.K., the  report said.

Balgord said the speech of images of radical getting killed oregon different kinds of gore is "as aged arsenic the net itself."

"I anticipation this doesn't marque consciousness to a batch of radical … but determination are radical who are attracted to that benignant of contented due to the fact that of its transgressive nature," helium said.

"It tin spell to immoderate precise unsafe places aft that."