From the scene
Written by Chris Covert exclusively for SouthFront
Igor Plotnitsky, president of the Luganks People’s Republic was wounded in a bomb attack on Saturday morning, according to Russian language news accounts.
Plotnitsky is reported in serious condition, but he is expected to survive the attack.
According to a news account on korespondent.net, the attack took place at 0750 hrs in Lugansk city at the intersection of Karpinski and Vatutin when the Toyota SUV he was riding in passed a roadside directional bomb packed with about 15 kilograms of explosives.
Though speculation as to the culprits has been muted in Lugansk official media, Ukrainian officials have denied involvement in the attack, themselves speculating that the attack may be part of a larger power struggle within Lugansk.
Adviser to Ukrainian president Igor Poroshenko, Alexander Motuzyanik said in a separate korrespondent.net report that Lugansk officials have been involved in an internal power struggle for “cash” and resources. Other speculations say that recent statements by Plotnitsky regarding how his forces would respect the truce regardless of what happens in Donetsk may have deepened a rift between the two republics.
From the scene
Motuzyanik also pointed to past attacks on commanders of military formations who have been killed through unknown circumstances. The best known, Alexei Mozgovoy, commander of the Ghost Brigade in Alchevsk was killed almost a year ago in a bomb and small arms attack. The involvement of Plotnitsky and his government was vehemently denied by both Lugansk and Donetsk officials at the time. Some of Mozgovoy’s aids at the time opened fingered Plotnitsky in that attack.
The death of Mozgovoy, one in a line of several commanders who were killed in roadside attacks, did not set well with other formation commanders in Lugansk.
A number of other rebel formation commanders in both Donetsk and Lugansk have seen a violent end since the winter of 2015, many of them Cossacks, who had been angered by Lugansk’s insistence on dealing with Ukrainian authorities by selling products for cash. The most famous of these, Colonel Pavel Dremov was killed in December, 2015, seven months after he made severe public criticisms of military commanders in the Debaltsevo defensive operation in February, 2015. Those remarks came rapidly on the heels of Dremov being awarded the rank of colonel and an honorific for his regiment.
Like Dremov, Mozgovoy has severely criticized the leadership of both Donetsk and Lugansk for the defensive operation in Debaltsevo.
Chris Covert writes about foreign military issues for Rantburg.com. He can be reached at grurkka@gmail.com
The SAS attempt more murder. This is the same format and hallmarks of murder in silence that is being carried out in Libya. I know they are SAS, cause I have known SAS in the past. They were working in Ukraine two years ago, so that is how I know they are still working in Ukraine. Only different unites then the original I knew. While I never knew more then some small details told to me personally, I did know that their aim was to prop up “NATO friendly” players, create an atmosphere of instability and make more contacts will to work with SAS on future plans in Ukraine. which were to test Russia’s resolve. Gather information on Russia by placing sensors near Russia and inside of Russia. And use Ukraine as a buffer zone against Russia to keep them tied up, as Mi6 works Russia on other fronts around the world to attempt to push Russia into bankruptcy. The SAS have been responsible for most of what has been unfolding in Ukraine. They have been working their for over three years trying to stir up decent, and form militias. All the while operating as if they were not SAS and in civilians clothing the whole time. Leading even the Ukrainians they dealt with to believe they were none state actors, or in some cases speaking American version of English, to hide their English identities. This is actually common practice. Which is quite sad. Cause often times people believe they are dealing with Americans or CIA, when in fact it is actually Mi6 and SAS. This is a trick that should be illegal, and they should not get away with. But many SAS are trained to speak with American accents for when their job calls for it, and cover up their English origin’s. https://judas.watch/mission
Mate you are side tracking. You know very little what’s going on in Donbas judging by what you have written.
Apparently he has blood on his hands. There are rumors that he was behind the assassination of Batman the famous commander of the Vostok battalion as well as the assassination of an icon of the resistance Aleksei Mozgov and few others. http://en.reporter-ua.ru/luhansk-separatist-carpenter-accused-in-the-serial-killings-of-militant-commanders-says-there-is-a-list.html
Of cause if would be hard to imagine that Kremlin didn’t know anything about it. So there you go.