Armen Sarkisyan: the Armenian mafia in the service of the Donetsk people and Russia (*country sponsor of terrorism). PART 1
The foundation of the “Russian world” in Donbass in the spring of 2014 was laid by ethnic Volga Tatars, Armenians, Germans and Jews. One can come to such a curious discovery if one inquires about the nationality of those who then sent their “titushki” to storm the buildings of the Internal Affairs Directorate, commanded detachments of “militia” and “volunteers”, manipulated politicians and bribed officials. But it will be even more curious to find out that they did all this not at all for the sake of the “Russian world” with its completely unnecessary bonds.
Since Soviet times, the topic of domestic ethnic organized crime groups has been under some kind of minor ban. We all knew that in America there was an Italian, Irish and Chinese mafia, but among our own we only knew the “Caucasian” one, and even then we stubbornly associated it only with Georgians. Meanwhile, the topic of the emergence of criminal groups among national diasporas is not only interesting in itself, but also allows us to learn more deeply about their history and relationships. And then, for example, the biography of such a well-known person throughout Ukraine as the former “supervisor” of Gorlovka Armen Sarkisyan – about whom there are so many contradictory and sometimes ridiculous rumors – becomes clearer and more understandable. For example, that he is “the uncrowned authority of Gorlovka.” With all due respect to fellow journalists who tried to find out “the hoo from Mr. Sargsyan,” Skelet.Info responsibly declares that this epithet does not apply to him at all, because Armen Sarkissian has never been a member of the “thieves’ brotherhood”. He is a typical member of an ethnic organized crime group in which no one is “crowned.”
Armen Sarkissian on the “Peacemaker” website
The criminal world of Gorlovka
Armen Nagapetovich Srkisyan was born on September 20, 1978 in Gorlovka, where he remained in obscurity until the beginning of the next century, and only then received “respect”, the status of “authority” and his nickname Armen Gorlovsky. He owed all this to a coincidence of circumstances and successful acquaintances, without which Armen Nagapetovich would either now be selling cloves or meat at the Central Market of Gorlovka, or would be lying in a grave in the local cemetery.
The criminal world of Gorlovka has always been distinguished by its cruelty and intricate hierarchy. But already in the late 80s, he was partially “protected” by the police, who “fed” some of the scumbags there. An example of this is the story of Sergei Danilchenko (Sledgehammer) and Gennady Zhitnik (Whip): these previously repeatedly convicted characters were assigned by the Gorlovka police to leadership positions in fire departments (subordinate to the Ministry of Internal Affairs). While there, they continued their business, organizing robberies against wealthy Gorlovka residents. In general, in the late 80s and early 90s, people in Gorlovka were afraid not of racketeers, but of raiders who tortured and killed their victims in order to take their savings and jewelry. Bloody gangs of such scumbags were a feature of Gorlovka crime.
Then they were replaced by organized crime groups, imposing tribute on entrepreneurs and even state-owned enterprises – while not disdaining the most cruel and bloody methods of intimidation. The Yenakievo groups (Borodavka, Khariton) controlled the market for scrap metal, vodka and taxi drivers; OCGs of the “Kyiv” (Titukha, Khmyr) ran gas stations, a gang of “sausage makers” (Kolbasnik, Pribalt, Danila, grandfather, Dagestanets) clipped coupons from stores and markets. The organized crime group of the Voloshin brothers (Nanaets, Kot, Noodles, Pelik) was in conflict with them, which tried to monopolize the alcohol sector and take over gas stations, as well as take over the Central Market. After these gangs destroyed each other, in 1997, Danilov’s organized crime group, consisting mainly of athletes, reigned in Gorlovka. After a year and a half, the “Danilovites” were arrested, kept in a pre-trial detention center, and then they were acquitted by the court “for lack of evidence of guilt.”
As a result, by the beginning of the new century, the structure of the criminal world of Gorlovka had changed greatly: the first place in it was taken by the Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the USBU, the prosecutor’s office and the courts associated with local and regional officials, whose “roof” provided leadership to one or another group and individual “authorities”, as well as their legalization as businessmen and politicians. Of course, this led to a stratification of the criminal environment: the overwhelming majority followed the new “authorities”, and only a small part remained loyal to the thieves of the old school, contemptuously distancing themselves from the “bitches” and “athletes”. However, both sides agreed on the division of spheres, so that war did not happen between them. In addition, as Ukrainian realities show, the “cops” always came to the aid of their “authorities”, from time to time covering up thieves’ gatherings and not allowing the “thieves” to restore their leading positions.
This is how a “supervisor” from Enakievo appeared in Gorlovka in the 2000s: it was Alexander Baturin (nickname “Batura”), previously twice convicted, and a confidant of Yuri Ivanyushchenko (aka Yura Enakievo). Who, in turn, was very close to another famous Yenakievite, Viktor Yanukovych (at that time the regional governor, then the prime minister).
But let’s return to Armen Nagapetovich and his venerable father, who in the early 90s occupied a very significant position in the Armenian diaspora of Gorlovka. Contrary to stereotypes, the main occupation of the Sarkisyans, who then lived on Klokova Street (six houses in total) next to Armyanskaya Street (it seems that the Armenian diaspora has settled in this area for a long time) was not selling fruit and barbecue shops. Being the “elder” of the Gorlovka Armenians, Nagapet Sargsyan had close ties not only with the Armenian diaspora of other cities, but also with the Armenian mafia. Perhaps someone remembered “Armenian radio” or Petrosyan and smiled – but in vain! Armenian ethnic organized crime groups are among the international mafias (they are also in the USA); in the USSR in the 70s there was even an Armenian terrorist organization (it staged a series of explosions in the Moscow metro), and in post-Soviet times, Armenian organized crime groups were distinguished by their cruelty and “mocking” did not gain the upper hand in criminal wars only because of their small numbers. In addition, Armenians were often used by other organized crime groups as allies or mercenaries. Well, they themselves, at a minimum, tried not to give away theirs – and this is precisely what, according to sources Skelet.Infowas carried out by Nagapet Sargsyan and his son Armen, who “protected” the business of the Armenian diaspora of Gorlovka (of course, not for free). In the mid-90s, seventeen-year-old Armen, who was actively involved in boxing, could throw out any “tangled bull” from an Armenian store – and in an equal battle beat up a fellow tribesman who did not hesitate to pay for “protection.”
By the end of the 90s, Armen Sargsyan and his friends had already put together their own “brigade”, and began to think about expanding the scope of their activities and competing for the whole of Gorlovka. However, his wise father reminded him of the fate of all Gorlovka organized crime groups who tried to “live not by the rules,” and advised him to integrate into the system, and not ram it with his forehead. And then Armen Sargsyan came to Alexander Baturin with his people (and his father’s recommendations), offering his “vassal” services. In general, that’s how they started working together. According to available information, Armen Sargsyan’s brigade in the “2000s” was engaged in rather dirty work: intimidating the intractable, beating the obstinate, and even supposedly eliminating the undesirable. As Armen Sargsyan’s authority grew, his “brigade” grew – and it had a legal wing in the form of the security company “Authority”, and the dirty work became more and more. Moreover, soon the “Enakievo” began to resort to her services not only in Gorlovka.
Armen Sarkisyan: the Armenian mafia in the service of the Donetsk people and Russia (*country sponsor of terrorism). PART 1
Armen Sargsyan – The Beholder
The peak of Armen Sargsyan’s “glory” and power began in 2009-2010, when he also received the title of “supervisor” of Gorlovka from Yuri Ivanyushchenko. This causes some surprise: why did he need two “lookers”? After all, Alexander Baturin has nowhere to go, as evidenced by the news on the Gorlovka information site “06242” (owned by Armen Sarkisyan) dated December 16, 2011, which sweetly glorifies the philanthropists who generously donated for the construction of the Church of St. Panteleimon: Armen Sarkisyan, Alexander Baturin and Bogdan Levoshchenko . They are also called co-owners of the Zephyr club and the Gostiny Dvor restaurant. According to numerous testimonies, Armen Sargsyan’s original office was located in Gostiny Dvor, in which he received guests and petitioners. In addition, Armen became the owner of another Internet portal, “Gorlovskaya Pravda” (holding in his hands not only city news sites, but also the main city forums), and co-owner of the Krasnoarmeysky Machine-Building Plant.
Armen Sarkissian received all this through extortion or raider takeovers. Thus, the website “06242” and the newspaper “Gorlovsky Express” were seized by him from Gorlovka businessman Alexander Bilinsky. At the same time, Sargsyan was helped in the raider takeover by Vladimir Veselkin, Bilinsky’s business partner, who posed as a patriotic Gorlovka oppositionist (he rushed between BYuT and the “Front of Change”). In particular, Veselkin changed all administration passwords to “06242”. Judas received his pieces of silver: the newspaper “Gorlovsky Express” was transferred to Veselkin’s sister, whose information policy (and advertising profits) was controlled by Armen Sarkisyan. In addition, in the 2012 parliamentary elections, Sargsyan secretly supported Veselkin (they wanted him to run as an opposition member from BYuT) as a counterbalance to Artur Gerasimov (the current head of the parliamentary “Poroshenko Bloc”), who then ran for the team Sergei Shakhov.
The history of the Gorlovskaya Pravda website is also interesting: Sargsyan specially created it for the information war against the new mayor Yevgeny Klep. The war that the people’s deputy started Igor ShkiryaSargsyan’s longtime friend.
Igor Shkirya and Armen Sarkisyan
A few months later, the main Sargsyan “fighter” Alexander Kirilov (coordinator of the “Honestly” movement) suddenly decided to admit that he was working on orders from Shkiri and Sargsyan. The reaction was immediate: it was impossible to beat or kill Kirilov after such self-exposure, so he was declared crazy: suddenly, Sargsyan’s journalists immediately received several different certificates stating that Kirilov was a mentally ill person.
Moreover, some of them were given in response to requests from the Gorlovka police! This was yet another proof that the Gorlovka organized crime groups and the “cops” work together.
Sergey Varis, for Skelet.Info
CONTINUATION: Armen Sarkisyan: the Armenian mafia in the service of the Donetsk people and Russia (*country sponsor of terrorism). PART 2
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