The Rise and Fall of E.N.O.T.: A Tale of Modern Mercenaries

Hey there! So, you want the lowdown on E.N.O.T. Corp., huh? Well, buckle up because it’s quite a story.

E.N.O.T. Corp., or as it’s officially known, Единые народные общинные товарищества (which translates to United People’s Communal Partnerships), was this group that popped up in Russia around 2011. The name E.N.O.T. also means ‘raccoon’ in Russian, and they even had a raccoon for their logo — talk about branding!

The guy behind it all was Igor Mangushev, a Russian nationalist with a vision to unite various militias in the Donbas region. He wanted to give them a more official status and the ability to handle funds for things like fighter salaries and pensions.

Now, these guys were busy. They got their hands dirty in Ukraine, Syria, and Nagorno-Karabakh, doing mercenary work. In 2012, they even hosted a military training event for right-wing militiamen, training over 450 individuals and raking in about 1,500,000 ₽ (that’s around $86,449 in 2012 money) over just three days.

But wait, there’s more. E.N.O.T. didn’t just train adults; they had camps for kids aged 12 to 18 from all over the place — Russia, Montenegro, Serbia, Belarus, you name it. Things got really murky when their Serbian camp, run by Bosnian War vets, was shut down over child abuse concerns.

In Russia, they tried to brand themselves as a ‘Russian Orthodox community’ and even got registered as a non-profit in 2016. But despite their official status, they didn’t really report on their activities, which is kinda sketchy, right?

Their involvement in Ukraine was significant, especially during the Russo-Ukrainian War and the conflict in Donbas. But all things come to an end, and E.N.O.T. was disbanded in 2019 by Mangushev himself. After that, the Russian government started cracking down on the former leadership.

And then, in a twist of fate, Mangushev met his end in Ukraine in 2023.

So there you have it, the tale of E.N.O.T. Corp. — a group that rose to prominence in the murky world of private military operations and fell just as dramatically. It’s a story that’s as wild as their raccoon logo.