Russian Major General Pavel Klimenko killed in Ukraine
In a recent report on the Russian Telegram channel "Spy Dossier," details have emerged regarding the death of Major General Pavel Klimenko in the occupied Donetsk region. According to the Telegram channel, on November 6, at 7:30 PM, the general, while moving with a group on motorcycles near a checkpoint in Krasnohorivka, was attacked by Ukrainian FPV drones (kamikaze drones).
Klimenko sustained injuries, was hospitalized at City Hospital No. 14 in the Petrovsky district of Donetsk, received first aid, was transferred to intensive care, but did not survive. The preliminary diagnosis includes "mine-explosive trauma, blunt head trauma, closed fracture of the left parietal bone, lacerated wound of the left occipital-parietal area, closed fracture of the right femur."
Klimenko's death became known on November 7, with the information hitting social media and catching the attention of the news outlet Important Stories. Klimenko was the commander of the 5th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade named after Alexander Zakharchenko (formerly the "Oplot DPR" battalion). Before the full-scale invasion, he served in Crimea and hailed from Stavropol. He was awarded the rank of Major General in May 2024, just a month after members of his brigade allegedly tortured American citizen and RT stringer, Russell Bentley, to death.
This atrocity reportedly took place at the abandoned Petrovskaya mine in Donetsk, with Bentley's body detonated in an effort to cover up the crime.
Four soldiers from Klimenko's brigade are under investigation for the murder. In August, the Astra publication released an investigation suggesting commanders of this brigade tortured subordinates to force participation in "meat grinder assaults," profiting amidst the war in Russia and Ukraine. Sources—including soldiers from the 5th Brigade—claim several locations in Donetsk's Petrovsky district are used by this brigade as sites for these torturous practices, referring to them as a concentration camp with a torture conveyor.