If you’ve spent much time watching gun or explosives videos on YouTube, then you’ve almost certainly come across FPSRussia.
FPSRussia was not only one of the most popular YouTube channels of its type, but it was also one of the most popular channels in YouTube’s history…period.
But then all of the sudden and with absolutely no warning the channel completely stopped producing content in April 2016.
The reason?
FPS Russia’s producer, Keith Ratliff, was found shot in his own gun store. Shortly after, the ATF conducted a series of raids and arrested FPS Russia’s host, Kyle Meyers. The YouTube channel stopped but Kyle can still be found making videos at Painkiller Already.
If you’re ready for all the details…read on!
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**UPDATE** 11/15/2019:
Kyle Meyers’s legal troubles seem to have concluded now, on June 19, 2019, Myers accepted a plea deal and was sentenced to two years probation and two months in halfway house, and a moderate fine.
After serving his sentence he has returned and is back on the PKA Gaming Podcast.
Origins/History of FPSRussia
FPSRussia was started in September of 2010 and is hosted by Kyle Myers. By June the channel had 1 million followers. As of February 2018, the channel has over 6.5 million followers and their follower count is still growing, despite no new content being produced.
What makes FPSRussia stand out among the roughly one jillion gun and explosive YouTube channels out there is the character (an very heavy, very fake Russian accent) that Myers takes on when hosting, Dmitri Potapoff.
According to the channel’s mythos, Potapoff is a gun- and explosive-loving Russian from Moscow who has access to a wide variety of firearms and explosives and loves using them on his family’s farm.
In real life, on the other hand, Myers is a gun- and explosive-loving American from Lavonia, Georgia who had access to a wide variety of firearms and explosives and loved using them on his family’s farm.
Huge differences.
But how does a channel go from that level of popularity to basically disappearing?
Death of Keith Ratliff
If you believe in signs from the universe, you might say that the first sign of the end for FPSRussia was the death of Keith Ratliff.
Ratliff, a member of FPSRussia’s production staff who was responsible for providing the firearms and other equipment used in the channel’s videos, was found shot in the head in his own gun store on January 6, 2013.

Though police suspected foul play based on the angle of the shot, no charges were ever filed and no arrests were ever made. The store’s surveillance equipment and some firearms were missing from the scene.
Of course, like any mystery found on the internet, there are plenty of theories floating around, including conspiracy theories. Evidence for the conspiracy theories is, at best, insubstantial, so I’m not going to discuss them here.
The personal and professional hardship that resulted from Ratliff’s death led the channel to take a hiatus until February 19, 2013, but even more trouble was still on the horizon for FPSRussia.
ATF Raid of Kyle Myers’s Home
On March 29, 2013, less than three months after Ratliff’s death, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives led a team of almost 40 law enforcement officers, including agents from the Georgia Bureau of Investigations (GBI) and officers from the Royston County and Hart County sheriff’s offices, in raiding Myers’s home in Royston, Georgia.

Another team of authorities raided Myers’s father’s farm in Lavonia, Georgia, which sometimes served as a filming location for FPSRussia, at the same time.
ATF spokesperson Richard Coes told a local newspaper, the Athens Banner-Herald, that the raid was motivated by the ATF’s suspicion that Myers was violating a federal regulation that bans individuals from manufacturing explosives for distribution, sale, or use by their own business without a federal license.
Coes declined to comment on whether or not the raid was connected to the death and suspected murder of Keith Ratliff.
No arrests were made following the raid. None of the law enforcement agencies involved stated whether any items were seized, though Coes did state that no guns were seized at one of the two properties that law enforcement searched.
Following this incident, the channel once again went on hiatus, this time for nine months, before uploading a new video in January, 2014.
However, this wasn’t the end of Myer’s trouble with the ATF.
Second ATF Raid & Arrest
After a little over two years of posting videos again, FPSRussia suddenly stopped. They made no statement about why, but it’s probably a safe bet to assume that the decision was a result of the legal troubles that Myers had faced before, and perhaps the knowledge that he would face similar troubles in the future.
Because in August 2017, Myers would be arrested and his home searched by the ATF once again after approximately 25 grams of butane honey oil, a high-THC marijuana concentrate, were found in his United States Postal Service P.O. box.
Myers was charged with possession of a Schedule I substance with the intent to distribute, a felony, and misdemeanor possession of drug related objects
During the raid, the ATF seized more butane honey oil, various drug paraphernalia, and, in accordance with federal law that prevents illegal drug users from owning firearms, more than 50 guns.
Where You Can Still Find Kyle Myers
Since Myers can’t own firearms anymore, it’s highly unlikely that FPSRussia will ever start making videos again.
His channel is still running…and our favorite is his AA-12 full-auto shotgun video:
But just because Myers isn’t making new YouTube videos anymore doesn’t mean you can’t still enjoy his current work.
Myers, under his gamertag FPS Kyle, has hosted the video game podcast and Twitch stream “Painkiller Already” along with other YouTube celebrities Murka and WoodysGamertag since 2010.

Myers got his start on YouTube back in 2007 making Let’s Play style videos of first-person-shooters like Call of Duty, so he’s a seasoned pro at this kind of streaming. You just won’t get the Dmitri Potapoff character and his ridiculous-in-the-greatest-possible-way accent.
Thoughts on this story or on FPSRussia in general? Let us know in the comment section below! How about what happened to Red Jacket Firearms?



38 Leave a Reply
DARE! Just Say No to DRUGS! W/O more info this looks rather like a setup or entrapment. My FFL says that ATF people are all gun enthusiasts... Its just a tenuous job when most gun laws are illegal to begin with. I'm continuously confounded how the courts and government in general disregard the very documents they are derived from.
This is an excellent article...i sure do miss fps russia
Faking dope information is a standard ATF tactic. Look at Waco. ZERO confirmed drug related information. ATF has no title 21 authority, so they stir the crap, and get someone else to do the raid. Drugs in a po box? That's not even close to prosecutable. Just another faked atf affidavit in support of a search warrant.
What a joke... The "Man" put him back in his place.
Now you tell me how the fuck anybody new what was in a package in your post office box unless they were the ones that sent it to him this smells like Waco this smells like Ruby Ridge it smells like a fucking set up. The government's not coming door-to-door for your guns they're taking you out like you eat an elephant one bite at the time.
Nailed it!
Or feds or locals had suspicions and the postal inspector started checking his packages after obtaining a warrant. Or they were watching the supplier snapping up customers. Or flipped the supplier, etc. There's about a dozen different ways that went down that have nothing to do with a setup.
@matthew newton Finally, a post from somebody who isn't a conspiracy theory nut.
Yeah, because everyone knows that the government doesn't plant evidence, fabricate evidence, destroy evidence or kill people. Ever.
Until you involve the atf. Then number one on the list becomes "set up". Think gun runner, think gast and furious- zero credibility. Plus, no postal inspector would do anything past a call to DEA, it's sop. Didn't happen!
Who/what funded his video's...?Some looked pricey... out
the ad revenue....atf took $400K worth of (50) guns.
I hope his record is expunged when pot is made legal.
why didn't he just move to colorado, oregon, or washington? In WA a legalized state, we have chinese cartels buying posh houses in posh neighborhoods, turn them into grow ops, and ship it to the east coast where they get 10x the legal pot shop retail street price. Then we have (actually so does british columbia, canada namely city of Vancouver) mexican cartels dominating territory, threatening anyone who gets inquisitive, running fentanyl/meth from mexico that was made from chinese components.
It doesn't matter if he moved. While it's legal in some states, it's still not legal federally. One of the questions on the 4473 asks about illegal drugs. The ATF doesn't care if it's legal in your state.
That meme with the Russian Pokémon holding a Belgium (FN mini me) lmg was kinda funny!!
Yup. Government cowards couldn’t find anything to arrest him for so they planted drugs. Happens all the time.
Let’s see, the government at the time didn’t like guns and the most popular channel on you tube was about guns. Well now the government can’t have that so kill Keith Ratliff (gun guy) and plant drugs on Kyle Myers problem solved.
I haven’t seen any records that he was convicted. How can he be a felon if he is not convicted. Anybody know if there has been a conviction and sentencing in his case. I don’t think there has.
First offender convictions don't show if probation is completed suct. He still will be a felon however. So really there isn't a point. I know. I was sentenced the same way. Until we rise up and start gunning down government agents , or voting them out.. whichever works nothing is going to change.
He pleaded Guilty.
He was sentenced to two years probation and has to live at a half way house for two months.
How do you get a felony from a subtance being in your p.o. box? Did someone plant it?
Yes it’s all planted all right, no doubt.
Mysterious death with foul play suspected but never investigated and shared publicly, and conveniently drugs are planted on Myers to prevent him from owning firearms, even though he's never presented any danger to anyone? Sounds like they wanted to shut down this high profile pro-2A operation, and they did.
Quite so. In the free country of the US of A.
A ONE SENTENE explanation was all that was need..right? Could have lead off with : he cannot make vids because he is now a prohibited person
Thoroughly impressive article, Outstanding job.
This is the best analysis I ever read. Now I have a more knowledge of what happened in real....Two thumbs up!
Good story and good to see all the details laid out in a timeline. Shame what happened, but if you want to own guns the law is very specific on how you can lose that right quickly.
well written...i think the lesson is don't use drugs while using guns. but seriously, ppl forget about the responsibilities of gun ownership pretty easily.
Responsibilities of gun ownership? You make it sound like its a privilege and not a right. We can keep our free speech while using drugs like marijuana in sanctuary states. We keep our fourth amendment rights no matter how "irresponsible". So please, tell me, what is the threshold of being a "responsible gun owner"? Because Gun ownership is a R I G H T. Not a privilege.
You SIR, ARE ABSOLUTELY, 1000% CORRECT! IN THE UNITED STATES, YOU ARE BORN FREE. THE GUBERMENT DOES NOT GRANT RIGHTS TO THE PEOPLE....THOSE ARE INALIENABLE RIGHTS GRANTED BY GOD....SO FEW PEOPLE UNDERSTAND WHAT IT MEANS TO BE AN AMERICAN. THEY ARE SO QUICK TO GIVE UP THEIR RIGHTS BECAUSE THEY DON'T UNDERSTAND THEM. ESPECIALLY IMMIGRANTS FROM OVERSEAS THAT DO NOT BECOME AMERICANS BUT INSTEAD KEEP THEIR OWN LANGUAGE, REMAIN IN THEIR OWN NEIGHBORHOODS AND BECOME BALKANIZED FROM SOCIETY EXCEPT WHEN ITS TIME TO VOTE DEMOCRATIC......DON'T EVER ACCEPT AN INVITATION FROM THE ATF TO VIEW YOUR GUN COLLECTION!
Yet, why are we not covered (by the first amendment) should we yell fire in a public place? Or why is it that nearly half of the US has criminal defamation laws? Rights are certainly stronger than privileges regarding ubiquity, but they are certainly not unlimited.
Because that's causing or has a high likelihood of causing harm to people. You also shouldn't go shooting your guns in a crowded mall, or threatening people with them on a whim. Owning them, shooting them safely on private property far from anyone else, is not yelling fire in a crowded theater.
Shhh, quiet down now, or a PO Box is going to end up having some thc oil put in it and conveniently found by the ATF after previously failing to be able to shut down this high profile gun channel.
Lesson is don’t get schedule 1 items mailed to you
...from 3-letter agencies....