Posted on 01/12/2015 5:40:08 PM PST by Ivan Mazepa
"How the murder of Batman split the LPR"
(translated from Russian by IM)
Map of East Ukraine and glossary of names:
LPR - Luhansk People's Republic is the eastern of the two breakaway regions. Formally, the head is Igor Plotnitsky, but his troops only control the capital Luhansk (Луганськ) and area around it (marked green on the map, top right of the separatist held territory)
Nikolai Kozitsyn and the "Great Don Cossack Army" is to the south of Plotnitsky-held territory (light green, almost beige on the map)
Stas Sinelnikov and the “Cossack Hundred” is between Kozitsyn’s forces and the Russian border. (marked purple on the map)
Pavel Dremov and the “Cossack National Guard” is to the west of Plotnitsky (marked light green)
Alexey Mozgovoi and the Ghost Brigade is south of Dremov and west of Plotnitsky (marked grey)
Alexander Bednov, aka Batman, was commander of a Rapid Response Team “Batman” and former Defense Minister of the LPR. He and six of his fighters were killed in an ambush attack on Jan 1 2015.
The murder of one of the most prominent commanders of the LPR, Alexander Bednov, had divided the militants of Donbas into two warring camps. This had become the most serious crisis in their ranks since the beginning of the military conflict in the East Ukraine. LPR commanders were liquidated before, but previously, they preferred not to air their dirty laundry in public. The most famous case was the conflict between Cossacks of Kozitsyn and military forces of the LPR in the town of Anthracite. In late November, the Cossack commandant of Anthracite, Vyacheslav Pinezhanin was killed along with his guard. According to the official version of the LPR, a special operation took place in Anthracite, during which "forces of the LPR Interior Ministry and Cossack troops neutralized and disarmed an armed gang". At that time, no one explained how the commandant of Anthracite had suddenly become part of an armed gang. Cossack comments on the murder of their colleague were also restrained, yet, no one had confirmed any joint special operation with the LPR forces. It was obvious that the leaders of the warring factions did not want to give more publicity to such inconvenient facts. This desire can be easily explained. The conflict in Anthracite occurred over division of the loot coal and disclosure of its details would not benefit any of the parties. Warring gangs decided to deal with each other with no extra eyes and ears, in the best tradition of the 1990s.
After the incident in Anthracite, discontent with Plotnitsky became stronger. A number of well-known commanders of the Cossack National Guard made scandalous statements against Plotnitsky, accusing him of stealing humanitarian aid, looting and stealing coal. The media cited harsh criticisms about the leadership of LPR by commanders Nicholai Kozitsyn, Yevgeny Ishchenko, Pavel Dremov and Alexei Mozgovoi. There have also been allegations of betrayal. These were regularly voiced by the former head of the Progressive Socialist Party in Luhansk region, Lubov Korsakova, which took the Cossack side in the conflict.(Note: PSP is to the left of the Communist Party) . Her newspaper "Sunrise" was arguing that Plotnitsky had signed a disadvantageous truce with Kiev and ceded LPR to the Ukrainian military.
Bednov (“Batman”) also was not silent and claimed that actions by Plotnitsky intentionally harm the war front, and openly called his ministers "impostors". Bednov and Plotnitsky clashed before the murder of Pinezhanin. The first serious conflict between them took place in October, on the eve of the presidential elections of LPR. Bednov tried to register as a candidate in the election, but wasn’t allowed by armed men of Plotnitsky. There was a brief armed clash, which ended with minor injuries to one of Batman’s people. Bednov’s people recorded the conflict on video and posted it on the internet.
"Initially, we did not want to spread this film. But, based on the fact that the pressure on us continues, and with each passing day it only increases, we begin to fear that it will exceed all conceivable limits" - said the militant of RRT "Batman" in the preface to the video clip.
Publicity of the incident did not have any consequences. However, Bednov did not stop his attacks on leadership of LPR. In his interviews, he mercilessly criticized Plotnitsky and his people, and also claimed that Plotnitsky is trying to relieve him of his command.
"The self-appointed Minister of State Security of LPR took some actions and increased their efforts to find compromising material (on me). I said before and I declare now - come and check, I have nothing to be ashamed of," - said Bednov on 22 November.
But the LPR leadership wasn’t able to relieve Batman from command. Apparently, it was then decided to eliminate the too talkative commander. On the morning of January 1, when the majority of the population of the "republic" had better things to do than to check the news, Batman’s motorcade was attacked in an ambush near the town Lutugino, killing everyone in it.
Days after Bednov’s death, Prosecutor General of the LPR took responsibility for his death. People of "Batman" have been accused of torture, extortion and looting. A number of militants confessed, after which the Rapid Response Team was disarmed and disbanded. The commander of the Diversionary Assault Reconnaissance Group "Rusich", which had been subordinated to the Batman, the neo-Nazi from St. Petersburg Alexei Milchakov, said that he refuses to cooperate with Plotnitsky and is laying down his arms. Another commander from Donetsk, Givi, agreed to take him into his battalion "Somalia".
Batman’s liquidation has created a real storm among the ranks of fighters and caused fierce debate about who was right in this situation. Some traditionally accused Plotnitsky and his Kremlin curators of treason. Others defended LPR leaders. Yesterday's "hero of New Russia" who was given military awards for the murder of Ukrainians was suddenly a "bloody gangster, extortionist and robber" responsible for terrible atrocities and had deserved to die.
Many who saw this sudden transformation of yesterday’s fighter against Ukrainian “punitive squads” into a "mad dog", talked about the return of the 1937 Stalin Purges. Pro-Russian blogger Boris Rozhin called the charges against Bednov, absurd. Apparently, every field commander has a torture cellar and all battalions live off civilians, taking from the required property, but for some reason only Bednov was found guilty. Another (former) commander, Igor Strelkov, urged Russians to follow his own example and leave the warring Donbass. "I was not trying to fight for power in New Russia, and one of the reason I had left my post, was to avoid such situations," - he blogged.
Known for his ukrainophobic views, Russian writer Eduard Limonov compared liquidation of Batman to the murder of Lieutenant Colonel Kostenko in Transnistria (TMR) in 1992, who was killed in very similar mysterious circumstances.
"Sorry if LPR turns into TMR. No need to. One is already enough. And isn’t it too soon for the revolution to devour its own children? Have the enemies left Donbas? It’s too soon to devour "- he wrote in his LiveJournal.
At the same time, on Limonov’s "Other Russia" webpage, it alleges that the men of so-called "Foreign Brigades" believe that Batman should have been shot in the summer for the surrender of town of Novosvetlovki to Ukrainian forces without a fight. Also, they write that they know nothing about military successes of Batman.
Also standing on the side of Plotnitsky, is a formerly Ukrainian but now Kremlin journalist Alexander Chalenko, who called liquidation of Batman as fair and described atrocities that his men committed to their captives. In this case, it was only a couple of months ago that Chalenko was photographed with Bednov and Kremlin in the background, and who was admiring Batman’s "exploits" at the war front. This turnaround has angered prominent Russian nationalist Yegor Kholmogorov who answered Chalenko blog:
"A month and a half ago, Alexander Chalenko called me to meet a great guy, brigade commander Bednov (Batman). Today, he lambasts him as a thief and a monster. Other members of the agitprop machine are doing the same thing" - says Kholmogorov.
In short, the quarrel between supporters of LPR caused by the Jesuit-like liquidation of Bednov, is no joke. The uneasy truce that lasted previous month has revealed that Lugansk and Donetsk militants were unable to find a creative solution. Yesterday’s representatives of the underworld, who are more accustomed to call each other by their criminal nicknames, have predictably failed in their attempt to establish a peaceful life. Once the common enemy in the face of the Ukrainian Army has ceased to disturb them, the pro-Russian gangs turned their weapons against each other and descended into an internal conflict with no clear end in sight. For thousands of mercenaries and volunteers from the former Soviet Union, lured to Donbas by the smell of war, ending the war means a return to the bleak gray weekdays in the depressive Russian hinterland, where they would never rise above the watchman at the local supermarket. For many of them, it’s not important whom they fight, as long as they’re the all-powerful owner of the gun and the camouflage uniform.
The winner of this conflict remains unknown. But as we can see, a hero and commander of the LPR can quickly become a criminal and thief, and anyone can become the militant leader. One thing is clear, whoever wins this war, the losers will be ordinary residents of Luhansk and Donetsk regions.
A pro-Russian militant commander can either:
- Obey Kremlin to the letter (Plotnitsky, Zakharchenko)
- Be recalled back to Russia (Bezler, Strelkov)
- Be killed by his own like Batman over here
Until each and every one of these roaches is similarly executed, Donetsk and Luhansk will just become an extension of Russia’s criminal cesspool, and the people there will live in slums for all time.
Putin wants chaos and fake civil war in Ukraine. I don’t think he really cares who does the killing or gets killed now.
Here’s a video of one of the Russian militant leaders, Dremov, blasting Plotnitsky. I wish there were English subtitles, but the visual is rewarding enough.
Content wise he’s accusing P. of stealing. Few “f*cks” and “suck my d*ck” here and there, “Jews are stealing”, but otherwise, very normal behaviour. It’s like patients taking over a mental hospital.
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mRV7ShdS5Z8
time is on Ukraine’s side. Putin continues to finance the war in Ukraine as rue and the monetary reserves go down. Let’s see how long it can last
And to think these subhumans fancy themselves as so moral and glorious! They are not too far removed from Orcs and Goblins invading human lands for the glory of Mordor. The sooner they die, the better for the human race.
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