Russian separatist warlord is shot dead during battle in Ukraine town

A leader of a rebel military group blamed for brutal war crimes since its formation in 2014, has been shot dead in Ukraine

Russian warlord Vladimir Zhoga, who headed the Neo-Nazi ‘Sparta Battalion’, was killed in Volnovakha, Ukraine, following the eleventh day of Russia’s invasion as Putin’s troops fail to make big wins.

Zhoga’s kill was yesterday confirmed in a Telegram channel post from Denis Pushilin, head of the breakaway DPR. 

He wrote: ‘Today in Volnovakha, the commander of a separate reconnaissance battalion ‘Sparta’ of the Guard, Colonel Vladimir Zhoga, call sign Vokha, died heroically.

‘He was mortally wounded while ensuring the exit of civilians.

”Sparta’ covered the evacuation of civilians, mostly women and children. The Nazis opened fire on them…

‘I have signed a decree on conferring the title of Hero of the Donetsk People’s Republic on Vladimir Artemovich Zhoga posthumously.

‘He died a heroic death, just a little short of victory. But his feat brought it closer.

‘I express my sincere condolences to family and friends.

‘Rest in peace, Brother!’

Zhoga became the group’s leader in 2016 after his predecessor Arsen Pavlov died following an IED explosion in the lift of his apartment.

Pavlov was accused of several war crimes, and in 2015 the Kyiv Post shared audio of him, in a phone call with the news outlet, saying he shot ’15 prisoners dead’. 

‘I don’t give a f**** about what I am accused of, believe it or not,’ he added. ‘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.’