A pro-Russian warlord who was accused of war crimes was shot dead in eastern Ukraine.
Vladimir Zhoga was the head of the ‘Sparta Battalion’ – a Neo-Nazi military group founded in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) – who was killed in combat during the second week of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
Announcing the death of the commander was the head of DPR, Denis Pushilin, who branded the criminal as a hero and suggested he died while helping evacuate civilians in an attempt to spread pro-Russian propaganda.
According to the reports, Zhoga was shot dead in the city of Volnovakh.
Zhoga headed the ‘Sparta Battalion’ since 2016 after the group’s former leader, Arsen Pavlov, was killed in an explosion.
Pavlov, who was accused of torture and executions during his time as the head of the military unit, previously admitted to war crimes as he said he didn’t care about killing 15 prisoners.
“I don’t give a f**** about what I am accused of, believe it or not. I shot 15 prisoners dead. I don’t give a f****. No comment. I kill if I want to. I don’t if I don’t,” Pavlov was previously recorded saying.
The news of the warlord’s death comes shortly after three top Russian commanders were taken out.
According to The Telegraph report, Russia suffered the loss of an unnamed regimental commander and a divisional commander amid the battle for Kyiv and other strategic points in the country.
Dying in battle was also the deputy commander of the 41st Combined Arms Army of the Central Military District, 47-year-old Major General Andrey Sukhovetsky, who was shot dead by a Ukrainian sniper.
“We’re seeing some commanders being killed. The deputy commander of the 41st combined arms army was killed by sniper fire. There’s been a divisional commander killed and a regimental commander killed,” a Western official said on the matter.
“My assessment would be that those commanders have been killed because they’ve had to go further and closer to the front.”
The official added:
“The reason why that’s happening is that commanders feel they have to move further forward to get greater impetus and control over operations.
“That’s an indication perhaps of some degree of frustration, some degree of lack of progress and they’re trying to impose their personality onto the battlefield and then putting themselves at personal risk.”
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