Alexander Bednov


Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Bednov was a rebel commander of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic in Ukraine. He was the leader of the pro-Russian Batman Rapid Response Group. He was assassinated in Luhansk, with conflicting reports on who was responsible.

Death

Bednov commanded the Rapid Response Group "Batman" until he was killed in an attack on his convoy on 1 January 2015. Members of the group said that the attack was ordered by head of the Luhansk People's Republic Igor Plotnitsky. According to them, Bednov and his fighters were killed "by order of Plotnitsky" because he was "ordered to sweep all intransigent commanders." Following this attack, the LPR arrested some of Bednov's men, and dissolved the battalion. Some of its personnel were dispersed into other LPR units, while Donetsk People's Republic field commanders Givi and Motorola invited former members to join their battalions.
After Bednov's assassination, Igor Girkin criticized the killing as a "murder" and "gangster ambush", and suggested that other commanders seriously consider leaving Donbass to Russia, as he did.