Major General Pavel Klimenko, 47, a Russian commander accused of operating torture camps in occupied Ukraine, was killed in a reported drone strike while riding a motorcycle near the eastern front, according to multiple sources Thursday.
Anton Gerashchenko, former adviser to Ukraine’s interior minister, said the general died at a checkpoint near Krasnohorivka when a drone targeted his motorcycle group. Klimenko’s death was confirmed by his sisters to the Astra news agency and in Telegram posts, though the exact circumstances remain unverified.
As head of the Fifth Separate Motor Rifle Brigade in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, Klimenko faced accusations of running torture facilities for dissenting Russian soldiers. His unit was implicated in the death of American blogger Russell Bentley, 64, known as “the Donbas Cowboy,” who was allegedly tortured and killed at the Petrovskaya mine after being mistaken for a U.S. spy.
Bentley, who had spent a decade supporting pro-Moscow separatists in occupied territories, was reportedly killed by brigade members who later attempted to conceal evidence by destroying his body.
The general’s death comes as Russian forces reportedly advance toward capturing the strategic town of Kurakhove, with military bloggers reporting Russian troops entering the village of Sontsivka. Ukrainian authorities, while not confirming the village’s capture, acknowledged intense fighting around Kurakhove and Pokrovsk, a crucial logistics hub.
