“MKY” is a transnational neo-Nazi organization encouraging murder, bombings, and acts of terrorism from its members.
Canadian Anti-Hate Network
Source: Facebook
This article includes descriptions of self-harm, suicide, and child sexual abuse material.
A Manitoba community centre has been vandalized with swastikas and the name of a violent transnational neo-Nazi organization.
Pictures of Winnipeg's Westdale Community Center show repeated spray-painted swastikas and the abbreviation “MKY.”
President of the Westdale Community Centre, Brent McNeil, told the Winnipeg Free Press he found at least five of the symbols on the building doors and walls around on January 2. He added the vandalism was removed by the city within 24 hours of the painting being reported.
CBC noted that social media posts showing the symbols appeared as early as two days before. The same community centre has repeatedly been the target of antisemitic graffiti, as a swastika was drawn on the door of the building in December.
Source: Facebook
Previous reporting has focused on the swastikas with little to no mention of the transnational neo-Nazi organization represented by MKY.
MKY stands for Maniac Murder Cult or Маньяки: культ убийства in Russian — it is also abbreviated as “MKU” or “MMC.” A violent neo-Nazi organization, MKY members have been charged with assaults and planning to carry out what they hoped would be high casualty attacks against civilians.
MKY exists among a broad ecosystem of particularly brutal and insidious ideologies that can be hard to quantify. Dubbed “nihilistic accelerationism” by Marc-André Argentino, a senior research fellow at the Accelerationist Research Consortium, MKY falls into a broader network called “The Com” (or “The Community) — which includes groups like 764, No Lives Matter (NLM) and more. These are networks, usually made up of children or young adults, that began online but have come to include acts of offline violence.
Allegedly formed in Ukraine in 2017 by Yegor Krasnov after he was ran out of an ultra-nationalist group, according to MKY manuals and publications violence is not a byproduct of MKY’s beliefs but the purpose.
The group initially drew attention after short videos purporting to show violent beating and stabbing of random bystanders. A total of 38 videos were attributed to MKY and were released on the Russian social media platforms Telegram and VK.
Krasnov was reportedly arrested in 2020 for a litany of charges including an assault on two individuals who were reportedly sprayed with tear gas, beaten, stabbed, and robbed. Police alleged that Krasnov and seven others were responsible for five different attacks.
MKY literature asks prospective members to carry out a range of actions to prove their loyalty to the group, including assault, murder, and terrorism. Different criminal acts are given a different points value and members who do not reach the required amount for the month face the risk of being ejected from MKY’s ranks.
Michail Chkhikvishvili, a Moldovan citizen who wrote under the name Commander Butcher, was charged by the US Justice Department for “soliciting hate crimes and acts of mass violence in New York City,” after he and other unidentified MKY members conspired to launch an attack in New York City where a man dressed as Santa Claus would distribute poisoned candies during the winter holidays. He is credited as the author of the MKY book the “Haters Handbook.”
The third edition of the book includes information about the group’s membership requirements including an “entrance exam” and the details of the criminal tasks individuals are asked to carry out. This runs from “direct actions” (assault, murder, arson, and terrorism), “IT” (creating viruses, swatting, doxing, and more), “recruitment” and “microbiology” (developing bioweapons, chemicals, and poisons).
All acts are required to be documented through video and pictures to count towards MKY membership.
Other manuals published online by MKY offer tips on selecting weapons, methods for attacking victims, evading law enforcement, manipulating people, and other tactics expected to be used by its members.
Canadian and international law enforcement have released statements warning parents about the Com and its methods for targeting children.
“One IMVE group targeting children is commonly known as the 764 network (or "the com") but goes by various monikers,” the RCMP said in a news release on August 27, 2024. “Some of the largest sub-groups are known as: CVLT, Court, Kaskar, Harm Nation, Leak Society, 7997, 8884, 2992, 6996, 555, Slit Town, 545, 404, NMK, 303, and H3ll.”
764 is by far the best-known of the many subgroups active within this ecosystem, particularly due to the arrests of several of its members. According to Mack Lamoureux, the 764 network pushed individuals into horrific acts of violence and self-harm. Though its founder, then-17-year-old Bradley Cadenhead, was sentenced to life in prison, the network remains active and has included at least one Canadian minor.
“The Comm has existed for a while now, with the InfoSec (information security) community being aware of the network for their SIM Swapping, swatting, and cyber criminal activities,” Marc-André Argentino, a senior research fellow at the Accelerationist Research Consortium wrote about the network in May. “Comm has existed on other messaging platforms like Team Speak and Kik; however, the current iteration of the network is primarily on Discord with a growing population of users on Telegram dubbed ‘telecom.’ They use these messaging platforms to engage in widespread criminal acts.”
Recording and gamifying each step of the process of indoctrination and exploitation, Comm members track the manner that they lead their victims into committing heinous acts alongside the actual product of the extortion in “lore books.”
In some cases, victims are manipulated into using blades to cut the screen names of their abusers into their skin. Perpetrators use these images to increase their reputation and status within the community.
One act leads to another with 764 and images and video-created by victims are then used to coerce them into committing more, sometimes escalating acts of depravity and harm. The images and lore books are then circulated among the group and online.
Some victims go on to exploit others in a similar manner, perpetuating the cycle of abuse.
Comm networks often communicate using the encrypted messaging application Telegram and Discord, a chat program originally intended for gamers, but is utilized by millions to create and manage online communities. Victims are sometimes recruited in video games popular with children like Minecraft and Roblox. Targeted individuals will receive direct messages or be invited to move to other platforms “where the conversation quickly becomes sexualized or violent,” according to the RCMP.
Some Comm groups do engage in financial crime, with individuals teaching each other how to carry out a variety of scams using stolen financial information. It is worth noting that the extortion aspects of Comm are rarely for financial gain, rather focusing on further tormenting and, conversely, radicalizing their victims. In some cases, there are clear separations between Comm groups focused on sexual exploitation and monetary gain.
In 2023, the FBI released a bulletin warning people about 764 and associated networks.
Earlier this year, a 14-year-old from Lethbridge was charged with making child pornography, distributing child pornography, possession of child pornography, non-consensual distribution of intimate images and making/possession of explosives. Media reporting has linked the teen to the Comm network.
In July 2024, RCMP in Newfoundland also issued a public notice warning of a “violent online network” targeting children from ages eight to 17, “particularly 2SLGBTQIA+ youth, racial minorities and those with mental health issues.” The notice named 764, Court, and several other groups from the Comm networks.
If a child or youth in your life has been affected by online sexual victimization, or you have yourself, contact the Canadian Centre for Child Protection for support and resources.
Trump has pardoned or commuted the sentences of over 1,500 rioters who stormed the Capitol building on January 6, 2021. Included among them are the former leader and several members of the Proud Boys—a group designated as a terrorist entity in Canada.
Meta’s new policy that allows users to deny the existence of gay and transgender persons seems to be incompatible with Canadian law, which has found that those kinds of statements are hate speech.
Lisa MacLeod has since apologized for what she says was an “inappropriate” comment that was not intended to hurt anybody.