A Russian army general accused of overseeing a unit that tortured its soldiers and allegedly murdered a U.S. citizen was reportedly killed in Ukraine this week, marking the eighth Russian general killed since President Vladimir Putin launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Major General Pavel Klimenko, commander of the Russian ground forces’ 5th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade stationed in the occupied Donetsk region, was killed on Wednesday “on the front line near Donetsk,” according to a pro-war group on the Russian social media platform VKontakte.
The investigative outlet IStories reported that Klimenko’s death was confirmed by his sisters in previous social media posts, and the BBC’s Russian service also verified his death through a close relative.
In August, the Telegram news channel Astra reported that Klimenko’s brigade ran a torture camp for Russian soldiers who refused to fight, extorting money from them. Astra also alleged that in April, soldiers from Klimenko’s brigade tortured and killed Russell Bentley, a U.S. citizen who had fought alongside pro-Kremlin rebels in eastern Ukraine. Russian authorities arrested four soldiers on charges of abuse of power, desecration, and concealment of a body.
A native of southern Russia’s Stavropol region, Klimenko served in Crimea after being annexed and promoted to major general in May 2022. He is reportedly the eighth Russian general to have died in Ukraine since the invasion began, according to the BBC’s Russian service, which tracks confirmed troop casualties in the conflict. The last reported death of a Russian general in Ukraine occurred in November 2023.
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