What is known about “Mamai”?
There is not much information about Faskhutdinov’s personal life. According to the Ukrainian project “Peacemaker”, he was born in 1989 and lived in Ussuriysk (Primorsky Krai, Russian Federation). Now he has the rank of colonel and commands the “5th separate motorized rifle brigade” of the occupation army of the Russian Federation (the “brigade” was formed from the “Oplot” group, which has been operating in the occupied areas of Donbass since 2014; in the Russian media the brigade is also called the “Donetsk” brigade).
According to Important Stories, Faskhutdinov became the brigade commander after his boss, General Pavel Klimenko (who, according to media reports, also practiced “nullification”) was killed in 2024.
As Gazeta.ru wrote, at the end of 2025 “Mamai” reported to “President” of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin about “the completion of the defeat of the formation of the Armed Forces of Ukraine” in Mirnograd, Donetsk region, although at the end of April 2026 the Ukrainian military continued to hold positions in the city.
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Today, Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov awarded him the title “Hero of Russia.” For what exactly is unknown.
Why is it called a “nullifier”?
“One of the main nullifiers of the Russian army,” the publication “Important Stories” calls him. His subordinates, as well as relatives of the “nullified,” spoke about his role in the executions.
According to media reports, the killing of “military” brigades was also practiced under Klimenko, and under “Mamai” the tradition continued. Those who served in the brigade claim that Faskhutdinov sent the wounded on crutches or without weapons to assaults, and those who refused to carry out such orders were shot.
“You can only leave the 5th brigade feet first,” this is how one of its former employees described the situation in the unit in a commentary to Astra.
How and why do they reset in the “second army of the world”?
Eyewitnesses told Vestka that the main motive for the “zeros” was money.
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Russian occupiers are killed, thrown into “pits” or beaten (sometimes to death) for refusing to pay commanders for not going to the assault or going on leave, and disabled stormtroopers are forced to sign a power of attorney to receive compensation for death while performing a combat mission and are sent to the assault. Those who decide to complain about the “nullification” (for example, to relatives or the prosecutor’s office) are also subject to “nullification”.
Astra describes several cases of “zeroing”. Thus, the “fighters” of the 5th brigade in 2024 first tortured to death US citizen Russell Bentley, a propagandist who had long collaborated with Margarita Simonyan and fought against Ukraine since 2014, and to cover their tracks they blew up his body (the American, who lived in the “people’s republic,” was mistaken for an American spy).
In the torture basement, which operates on a permanent basis in the brigade, they tortured a wounded fighter of the brigade, who did not agree to go to the assault on crutches, Vladimir Frolov. After torture he had to be buried in a closed coffin. The wife of the murdered man complained to Astra that those who killed him later came to Frolov’s funeral.
The signature style of “Mamai” itself is sending wounded soldiers into an assault, for example, on crutches or with Ilizarov apparatuses (this is stated, among other things, in a video message recorded by 11 of Faskhutdinov’s subordinates, who barricaded themselves in a torture basement near Peski).
Faskhutdinov’s deputy, Ilya Ivanov (also a “Hero of Russia”), was accused by his subordinates of installing barrier detachments, extortion, torture and murder of those who did not agree to share money.
In the 80th tank regiment of the 90th tank division of the “Center” group, a former prisoner was first beaten and then shot by the commander because he refused to work as a “beacon” – to go to the front line in order to become a human bait and draw fire from the Ukrainian Armed Forces on himself and force the Ukrainian military to discover their positions. In another unit of the same formation, snipers were used in barrage detachments for “zeroing.” One of the servicemen said that in 2023-2024, snipers killed at least 60 of his colleagues.
In total, the register of “nullifiers” compiled by “Vestk” includes 101 Russian military personnel (these are commanders of different levels), including the already liquidated Pavel Klimenko, Faskhutdinov and the commander of one of the companies of the brigade Andrei Iordanov, as well as several ordinary performers.
