A RUSSIAN warlord who led the Neo-Nazi Sparta Battalion has been shot dead in Ukraine in another major blow for Vladimir Putin’s stalled invasion. Vladimir Zhoga was killed during battle in the eastern Ukrainian town of Volnovakha on Saturday. Vladimir Zhoga was shot dead by Ukrainian troops on SaturdayCredit: Not known, clear with picture desk. Denis Pushilin, who heads the breakaway Ukrainian territory of Donetsk, confirmed the kill on his Telegram channel. “Today, the commander of the Sparta separate reconnaissance battalion, Guards Col. Vladimir Zhoga (nom de guerre Vokha), died like a hero in Volnovakha,” he wrote. According to Pushilin, the commander was killed during an operation to evacuate civilians from Volnovakha – one of cities where Russian troops violated a ceasefire agreement on Saturday. Zhoga joined Russian-backed rebels in 2014 – the same year in which the Sparta Battalion, a Neo-Nazi militia that has the support of Moscow, was created. The group is behind a wave of deadly attacks against Ukrainian troops and has been waging war in the Donbass region since hostilities broke out eight years ago. (…) Ukrainian soldiers fought off a Spetsnaz special forces air assault there — and his loss could explain why Russian forces failed to secure the airfield as well as why the assault on Kyiv had stalled.
via irish sun: GUNNED DOWN Russian warlord who led Neo-Nazi ‘Sparta’ battalion shot dead in Ukraine in fresh blow to Putin’s stalled invasion
siehe auch: DPR leader says one of military commanders killed in Volnovakha (TASS). The DPR leader said he had signed a decree to posthumously award Zhoga the title of the hero of DPR. Denis Pushilin, the head of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), said Vladimir Zhoga, the commander of the Sparta battalion, was killed in battle in the town of Volnovakha on Saturday. “Today, the commander of the Sparta separate reconnaissance battalion, Guards Col. Vladimir Zhoga (nom de guerre Vokha), died like a hero in Volnovakha,” Pushilin wrote in his Telegram channel.