Malyuta Skuratov

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Grigory Luk'yanovich Skuratov-Belsky, better known as Malyuta Skuratov (Григорий Лукьянович Скуратов-Бельский, Малюта Скуратов in Russian) (? - January 1, 1573) was one of the most odious leaders of the Oprichnina during the reign of Ivan the Terrible.

Malyuta Skuratov rose to prominence in 1569 by taking part in the trial and execution of Vladimir of Staritsa, Ivan IV's only cousin and a possible claimant to the throne. In December 1569, Malyuta Skuratov strangled a former Metropolitan of Moscow, Philip II, by the order of Ivan the Terrible, for his criticism of the Oprichnina.

In January of 1570, Skuratov led a punitive expedition against Novgorod, killing thousands of its citizens on suspicion of treason. In 1571, Skuratov was put in charge of the investigation into the causes of the Russian army's defeat by the army of the Crimean Khan Devlet I Giray.

Malyuta Skuratov was killed in one of the battles of the Livonian War in 1573. He lies buried near the grave of his father in the Joseph-Volokolamsk Monastery.

One of Skuratov's daughters married Boris Godunov. His other daughter, who had poisoned Mikhail Skopin-Shuisky, was married to Prince Dmitry Ivanovich Skopin-Shuisky.