By Aaron Miller-
A Russian mercenary believed to have been instrumental in the killing of prisoners of war and civilians—has become the latest top military figure from Vladimir Putin’s forces to be killed in the Ukraine war.
Vladimir Andonov, 44,(pictured) was killed by a sniper in Ukraine’s second city of Kharkiv, ending years of deadly military operation for rUSSIA.
AD: Capeesh Restaurant
“He died at night during reconnaissance of the area, along with his comrade, presumably at the hands of a sniper,” said the Peleng 03 telegram channel on Sunday, in a post reported by the mass circulation Russian newspaper Moskovsky Komsomolets.
Andonov hailed from the Mogoytuysky District, Transbaikal Territory in the Siberian republic of Buryatia. His local news outlet Gazyeta Nomer Adeen described him as the region’s “most famous volunteer” when reporting his death.
Vladimir Andonov, 44, was reportedly killed in Ukraine by a sniper. Connected with the Wagner group of Russian mercenaries, local media reported that the Siberian region of Buryatia’s most renowned military volunteer.
AD: Oysterian Sea Food Restaurant And Bar
The Ukrainian-run “Peacemaker” database, which keeps a catalogue of Russian military crimes said that in February 2015, Andonov took part in the execution of prisoners of war of the Ukrainian army in Logvinova, Donbas in eastern Ukraine, where he had volunteered. The database describes him as a “Russian mercenary” and an “executioner.”
In a 2017 interview, he told Gazyeta Nomer Adeen he had “ideological motives” for going to the Donbas region, stating that his grandfather had fought in Ukraine in World War II against the forces of Stepan Bandera, the Ukrainian nationalist implicated in collaboration with Nazi Germany.
He claimed to be a “shamanist” who would pray in battle to avoid bullets. He credited his faith for allowing him to avoid injury while fighting in the Donbas region’s Sea of Azov.
Also known by the nom de guerre of Vaha, Andonov was part of the Wagner Group of mercenaries who serve for Putin in conflicts, but whose links to Russia’s military aims are denied by the Kremlin. He has reportedly fought in Russian operations in Syria and Libya and in December 2017 was awarded a medal for military merit.
His death comes as another two of Putin’s commanders, Major General Roman Kutuzov and Lieutenant General Roman Berdnikov, were reportedly killed by Ukrainian artillery in the Donbas region.
Although not confirmed by Russian authorities, state television reporter Alexander Sladkov said Kutozov, who was commander of Russia’s 5th Combined Arms Army, had “led people into the attack.”
Last month, the Newyork Times revealed that the United States has provided intelligence about Russian units that has allowed Ukrainians to target and kill many of the Russian generals who have died in action in the Ukraine war, according to senior American officials.
Ukrainian officials said they have killed approximately 12 generals on the front lines, a number that has astonished military analysts.
The targeting help is part of a classified effort by the Biden administration to provide real-time battlefield intelligence to Ukraine, including anticipated Russian troop movements gleaned from recent American assessments of Moscow’s secret battle plan for the fighting in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, the officials said.
The United States has focused on providing the location and other details about the Russian military’s mobile headquarters, which relocate frequently. Ukrainian officials have combined that geographic information with their own intelligence, including intercepted communications that alert the Ukrainian military to the presence of senior Russian officers — to conduct artillery strikes and other attacks that have killed Russian officers.
Ukrainian officials said they have killed approximately 12 generals on the front lines, a number that has astonished military analysts.
The targeting help is part of a classified effort by the Biden administration to provide real-time battlefield intelligence to Ukraine. That intelligence also includes anticipated Russian troop movements gleaned from recent American assessments of Moscow’s secret battle plan for the fighting in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, the officials said. Officials declined to specify how many generals had been killed as a result of U.S. assistance.
The United States has focused on providing the location and other details about the Russian military’s mobile headquarters, which relocate frequently. Ukrainian officials have combined that geographic information with their own intelligence — including intercepted communications that alert the Ukrainian military to the presence of senior Russian officers — to conduct artillery strikes and other attacks that have killed Russian officers.
AD: Heritage And Restaurant Lounge Bar