The "Interior Ministry" of the so-called "DNR" reported the detention of former battalion commander of the militants Vadim Pogodin. He was convicted in Ukraine for the murder of 16-year-old Avangard youth team goalkeeper Stepan Chubenko.
It is stated that Pogodin is suspected of killing a 17-year-old teenager. It is likely that this is about Chubenko, but the representatives of the "DNR" incorrectly indicated the age of the victim. It is also noted that the militant is considered as the head of an organized criminal group.
"As established by law enforcers, in 2014, the 52-year-old suspect with other members of the OCG by prior conspiracy kidnapped a teenager, severely beat him, drove him out of town and shot him. Later, some members of the group were detained, the head of the organized criminal group with the closest entourage left the territory of the DNR," the statement said.
Pogodin is charged with articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation "Murder" and "Establishment of a criminal organization or participation in it." According to the Ukrainian investigation, Pogodin together with his accomplices killed Chubenko on July 28, 2014. The militants detained him, according to one version, for the yellow and blue ribbon on his backpack, and according to Igor Stokoz, a representative of the Donetsk Regional Military-Civil Administration, because he entered into an argument with them defending a pro-Ukrainian position. He was beaten, tortured, and then shot.