Yevgeny Zhilin

Yevhen Volodymyrovych Zhylin , also Yevgeny Vladimirovich Zhilin (, 6 January 1976 – 19 September 2016), was a Russian separatist in Ukraine from Kharkiv known for his involvement in leading the Titushky during Euromaidan and attempting to form a "Kharkiv People's Republic", of which he was the self-proclaimed president. Zhylin would be assassinated in Russia in 2016. Zhylin was the lead suspect in a 2006 attempted assassination of Hennadiy Kernes for which he was detained for two years but ultimately acquitted and released in 2008. In 2010 he opened a mixed martial arts club in Kharkiv named "Oplot" or "Stronghold" claiming that the organization was made to train fighters to oppose neo-Nazis and Banderites.

"Oplot" and Euromaidan

During Euromaidan Zhylin made a name for himself as one of the leading Anti-Maidan voices within the city, using his MMA club as an impromptu paramilitary to engage in street clashes against pro-maidan protesters. After Viktor Yanukovych fled the country following the Revolution of Dignity, Zhylin's street fighters were organized into a militia fighting as a member of the Russian people's militias in Ukraine. Zhylin then opened more Oplot locations in the Donbass, namely in Donetsk, which were involved in the seizing of government buildings there during the outbreak of the War in the Donbass.

Assassination On September 20, 2016, Zhylin and an associate, Andrei Kozyrev, were dining in a high-end restaurant in the Gorki-2 suburb of Moscow when a man with a fake mustache, sunglasses, and hat entered, walked up to the table, and shot Zhylin and Kozyrev. Zhylin was killed instantly while Kozyrev went into a coma.

Russian nationalist politician Aleksandr Borodai stated that the assassination was the result of a "business dispute" between rival security companies, while the Ukrainian politician Dmytro Tymchuk claimed Zhylin was assassinated by the Federal Security Service "defending the [information] space from those who could give evidence about the initial stage of Russia's hybrid war against Ukraine."