Alexander Bednov

Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Bednov was a former Soviet and Ukrainian militsiya officer and 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 a debate among his supporters on who was responsible although on the day of his killing LPR "prosecutor's office" issued an official statement confirming "liquidation" of Bednov as "a head of a criminal organization".

Death

Bednov commanded the Rapid Response Group "Batman" until he was killed in an attack on his convoy on 1 January 2015. LPR "prosecutor's office" described the attack as an "arrest attempt" in relation to a criminal investigation against Bednov started on 30 December 2014.
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 shot and 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 Donbas to Russia, as he did.