Nearly four months after being the subjects of a surprise raid by federal agents, and almost seven months after their co-founder was mysteriously killed in his Georgia office, the makers of one of the most popular YouTube channels of all time are ready to get back in the saddle.
"We'll start filming again in a few weeks," FPSRussia producer Kitty Wandel told The Huffington Post over the phone on July 19. "We've got some huge things planned."
The FPSRussia series features 27-year-old Kyle Myers, who's also known by his alter ego, "Dmitri Potapoff," demonstrating advanced weaponry in ways that are playful but destructive. (Let's just say he's blown up more than a few cars.)
The videos, which Myers hosts in a thick but affected Russian accent, have included exhibitions of four-wheeled machine guns, drones and tanks -- which Myers once used to visit the local White Castle drive-thru.
While Wandel promised even more fiery videos from FPSRussia in the near future, challenges remain.
"We've obviously been unable to replace Keith," Wandel said, referring to Keith Ratliff, a co-founder and producer of the show who was responsible for procuring the advanced weaponry for which the series is known.
On Jan. 3, Ratliff was found dead in his Carnesville, Ga., office with a single bullet to the back of the head. His death led the Georgia Bureau of Investigations to launch a homicide investigation -- apparently international in scope -- but officials have kept mostly mum on any progress.
Wandel says the FPSRussia team is equally in the dark about what happened.
"We don't know if it was an angry fan, someone who showed up for Kyle and got angry that Kyle wasn't there, or someone from Keith's past," she said, adding that the team has spent about $8,000 on a new security system since the incident.
In addition to being instrumental in arms buying, "Keith was really the motivator," Wandel said.
However, Ratliff's death hasn't been the only factor to hinder the group's efforts to get back off the ground.
On March 26, about 50 agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the Georgia Bureau of Investigations and local law enforcement carried out raids on Kyle Myers' Franklin County home and on his father's farm, located about 10 miles away.
The event resulted in the seizure of several of FPSRussia's phones and computers. Since then, FPSRussia has only uploaded one video.
Wandel said the agents were primarily interested in seeing bank accounts and the location where the team stored the materials it uses to make explosives.
"I think they were expecting to find high explosives like dynamite or C4," Wandel said. "But we don't use those. We use Tannerite, which is a binary compound, and which anyone can buy online up to a very large amount."
While Tannerite is legal, a federal explosives permit must be obtained in order to use it "for business purposes," which includes using it for special effects.
Though Wandel was hesitant about revealing too many details of FPSRussia's new videos, she did give us a small glimpse of what's to come: "Let's just say, one of our videos is going to include a Russian fighter jet," she said.
We can hardly contain our excitement.
WATCH: Myers shows off some heavy artillery.
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