Pro-Russian separatist leader says his battalion suffered heavy losses in 2016
The founder of the separatist Vostok battalion, Alexander Khodakovsky, stated during an internet conference that the Vostok battalion suffered heavy losses in 2016, as 200 people were killed and 300 were injured.
“We have officially acknowledged that 200 people were killed and 300 were injured in 2016 and that is almost 70% of the casualty toll that we suffered during the 2014-2015 war period. The year of 2016 has been a year of a very confusing truce that has led the Vostok battalion to [suffer] such losses. These losses also include the division of internal troops such as the separate special-purpose battalion of internal troops, the division of 11th regiment and the division of territorial defense battalion,” Khodakovsky explained.
Alexander Khodakovsky, a former employee of the Ukrainian Security Service, since the first days of Russia’s hybrid war against Ukraine, was one of the leaders of the separatists of the Donbas.
Khodakovsky founded the Vostok battalion and became its leader. He was recently removed from all official positions in the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR).
Khodakovsky supports the idea of the accession of the Donbas to Russia.