Ukraine in as many days as the stalled Russian advance has resulted in desperate attempts by commanders to restore momentum.
One military source said: “They are trying to impose their personality on the battlefield and putting themselves at personal risk.”The news of Zhoga’s death was announced via Telegram by pro-Russian separatist Denis Pushilin.Pushilin claimed that Zhoga had been shot while attempting to evacuate civilians from Volnovakha – a small city in the contested region of Donetsk where Russian troops violated a ceasefire agreement on Saturday.According to Pushilin, Zhoga “died like a hero”.He commanded the Sparta Battalion, who began fighting against the Ukrainian government several years before the start of the Russian invasion, and is thought to have been responsible for a number of vicious atrocities, including the murder of several Ukrainian prisoners of war.In April 2015, Amnesty International Denis Krivosheev blamed the group's then leader Arsen Pavlov for the torture and “execution-style killings” of at least four captured Ukrainian soldiers.Amnesty said at the time: “Summary killings are a war crime, plain and simple.
Read more on dailystar.co.uk