A prominent Russian mercenary known as the Executioner and a suspect in the massacre of prisoners of war and civilians in Ukraine has reportedly been killed.
Russian-language telegram channels and media reported that 44-year-old Vladimir Andonov, an alleged member of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s dangerous private army, the Wagner group, was shot dead by a Ukrainian sniper in Kharkov last week.
“He was killed during the night during reconnaissance of the area, together with his comrade, probably at the hands of a sniper,” the Peleng 03 telegram reported on Sunday.
The Russian newspaper Moskovsky Komsomolets describes Andonov, codenamed Vaha, as a volunteer from the Republic of Buryatia who rose to fame in 2014 when he first traveled to Ukraine after the Russian invasion and annexation of Crimea.
Russian mercenary Vladimir Andonov was reportedly killed in a battle with Ukrainian forces last night. Russian mercenary Wagner was reportedly killed by a Ukrainian sniper. Western news outlets reported that the Russian military had lost 12 generals and at least 50 colonels.
Andonov earned the nickname “The Executioner” for the 2015 killing of prisoners of war in the highly contested Donbass region of eastern Ukraine, according to Ukraine’s Peacemaker database, which catalogs Russia’s alleged war crimes.
Andonov later took up arms in Libya and Syria and was awarded two medals for bravery while fighting as part of Putin’s shadowy private army, linked to atrocities in military zones around the world.
The bloodthirsty mercenary was the last high-ranking Russian fighter to end in Ukraine. The news of his death came just days after Major General Roman Kutuzov and Lieutenant General Roman Brednikov were reported killed in a battle in the Donbas region.
The Russian newspaper Moskovsky Komsomolets describes Andonov as a volunteer fighter.
Since the start of the war on February 24, Western media have reported that the Russian military has lost 12 generals and at least 50 colonels.
Zhambal-Zhamso Zhanaev, head of Russia’s Transbaikal Territory in Buryatia, where Andonov lived with his family, confirmed his death to a Moscow Komsomol member and said his body would be transported back to his hometown for burial.
Andonov served in the Russian regular army from 1997 to 2005, when he moved to the city of Ulan-Ude and enrolled in a pedagogical college, a Moscow Komsomol member said.
Andonov is alleged to have participated in the execution of captured Ukrainian soldiers in the town of Logvinovo, according to the Peacemaker database. Andonov earned the nickname “The Executioner” for the 2015 killing of prisoners of war in the highly contested Donbass region of eastern Ukraine.
He later dropped out of school and found a job before enlisting in the Ukrainian Donbass region as part of the Olkhon Special Forces Company.
After a major battle in 2015, it is alleged that Andonov took part in the execution of captured Ukrainian soldiers in the town of Logvinovo, according to the Peacemaker database.
In an interview after returning from the war in 2017, Andonov said he decided to fight in Donbass as a volunteer because his grandfather fought there during World War II.
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