Alexander Bednov

In this name that follows East Slavic naming customs, the patronymic is Aleksandrovich and the family name is Bednov.

Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Bednov (Russian: Алекса́ндр Алекса́ндрович Бедно́в, Ukrainian: Олекса́ндр Олекса́ндрович Бєдно́в; 29 August 1969 – 1 January 2015) was a former Soviet and Ukrainian militsiya officer and rebel commander of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic in Ukraine.^[1] He was the leader of the pro-Russian Batman Rapid Response Group. He was assassinated in Luhansk,^[2] with a debate among his supporters on who was responsible^[3] although on the day of his killing LPR "prosecutor's office" issued an official statement confirming "liquidation" of Bednov as "a head of a criminal organization".^[4]

Alexander Bednov
Bednov in October 2014
Minister of Defence of the Luhansk People's Republic
In office 20 August 2014 – 26 August 2014
President	Igor Plotnitsky
Prime Minister	Igor Plotnitsky
Preceded by	Igor Plotnitsky
Succeeded by	Oleg Bugrov
Personal details
Born	Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Bednov (1969-08-29)29 August 1969 Luhansk, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
Died	1 January 2015(2015-01-01) (aged 45) Lutuhyne, Luhansk Oblast, Ukraine[a]
Nickname	Batman
Military service
Allegiance	Soviet Union Ukraine Luhansk People's Republic
Branch/service	Militsiya
Unit	Batman Rapid Response Group
Battles/wars	War in Donbas

Death

Bednov commanded the Rapid Response Group "Batman" (also known as the Batman Battalion) until he was killed in an attack on his convoy on 1 January 2015.^[5] LPR "prosecutor's office" described the attack as an "arrest attempt" in relation to a criminal investigation against Bednov started on 30 December 2014.^[4] Members of the group said that the attack was ordered by head of the Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) Igor Plotnitsky.^[5] According to them, Bednov and his fighters were shot and killed "by order of Plotnitsky" because he was "ordered to sweep all intransigent commanders."^[6] Following this attack, the LPR arrested some of Bednov's men, and dissolved the battalion.^[7] Some of its personnel were dispersed into other LPR units, while Donetsk People's Republic field commanders Givi and Motorola invited former members to join their battalions.^[7]

After Bednov's assassination, Igor Girkin criticized the killing as a "murder" and "gangster ambush", and suggested that other commanders seriously consider leaving Donbas to Russia, as he did.^[8]

Notes

1. ^
   At the time of his death, Lutuhyne was part of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic.