As Ukraine Rebel Chiefs Die Far From Front, the Blame Ricochets
His unit, Mr. Motuzyanik said, suffered heavy losses in a recent flare-up of fighting near the town of Avdiivka, creating "many enemies
and ill-wishers." The other victims of the assassinations include Arsen Pavlov, who went by the nickname Motorola and was killed in the elevator bombing; Aleksei Mozgovoy, a former restaurant cook turned commander of a unit called the Ghost Brigade; and Aleksandr Bednov, who went by the nickname Batman.
Russian wrote that I ask you again,
The staccato of about half a dozen assassinations of commanders in the Russian-backed separatist army in eastern Ukraine has become
one of the riddles of the war there since 2015, when the first unexplained killings of Cossack militia leaders occurred.
The assassinations have caused enough worry among rebel commanders
that a year ago Aleksandr Khodakovsky, leader of the Vostok battalion, insinuated a Russian role in a post on the social network LiveJournal.
The assassinations could ease peace talks; Ukraine had refused direct negotiations with
the rebel leadership as long as men it deemed war criminals held senior posts.
The European Union placed Mr. Pavlov, a Russian citizen, on sanctions lists after he boasted in an interview of
shooting 15 Ukrainian soldiers who were taken prisoner during the fight for the Donetsk city airport in 2015.
The authorities in Kiev say the deaths point to either infighting in the separatist leadership or efforts
by Russia to consolidate control by eliminating erratic, if popular, local commanders on their own side.