Russian ‘torture camp general’ killed in Ukraine drone strike

Pavel Klimenko, a notorious figure, is the eighth Russian general to die in the conflict.

Major General Pavel Klimenko allegedly oversaw the torture of servicemen who refused attack orders. Picture: The Times

Russia has lost its eighth general in Ukraine after he was allegedly killed in a drone strike while on a motorcycle.

Major General Pavel Klimenko was a notorious figure who had allegedly run a “torture camp” where Russian and pro-Moscow servicemen who refused attack orders were physically abused.

His death was reported on Telegram channels run by pro-Russian separatists. One of Klimenko’s sisters confirmed it to a news agency, and a second posted about it on social media.

Klimenko, 47, was promoted in May. A month earlier, his men had allegedly tortured to death Russell Bentley, known as Texas, an American blogger they had apparently mistaken for a spy.

Bentley, also known as the Donbas Cowboy, backed pro-Moscow separatists and was living in the city of Donetsk. He had served in a rebel battalion and worked for a Russian propaganda radio station. He was killed aged 64 on the site of an old mine and his body was blown up to try to hide evidence.

Russell Bentley was allegedly mistaken for an American spy and tortured to death by Klimenko. Picture: Brendan Hoffman/Prime

Another victim was Vladimir Frolov, who had been illegally drafted and was trying to leave the army on health grounds. Picture: East2West/The Times

Bentley’s death caused outrage in Moscow, and four soldiers of Klimenko’s brigade were charged with abuse of power, torture, desecration and conspiracy to hide a body.

Another victim was Vladimir Frolov, 29, a guitar teacher with a disability who had been illegally drafted and was trying to leave the army on health grounds. His death certificate recorded that he had died in action, but relatives said his body had been so badly mutilated by torture that they had to bury him in a closed coffin.

More victims at the mine have included servicemen with grave injuries who were forced back to the front. Some had to hand over their salaries and compensation for wounds.

One woman said her husband had been forced to return to the front despite doctors having ordered a month’s rest for shrapnel wounds and complete loss of sensation in one arm.

A short video from the mine showed several men joined together with chains and handcuffs in a basement. They were later sent to the front, and their fate was unknown.

Klimenko previously led a motorised rifle brigade in a pro-Kremlin separatist militia in eastern Ukraine. It was absorbed into the army last year.

The manner of Klimenko’s death has not been independently verified. Anton Gerashchenko, a former adviser to the Ukrainian interior minister, said the Russian general had been hit by a drone at a checkpoint near Krasnohorivka, on the front line in eastern Ukraine, while “moving in a group on motorcycles”.

He is the eighth Russian general whose death in Ukraine has been confirmed.

The Times