Military leader of pro-Russian rebels assassinated

Military leader of pro-Russian rebels assassinated

The Beta agency is quoting an AFP report this Monday that said the site of Pavlov's killing was "ringed by military trucks, a light armored vehicle and about 50 armed men" last night.

Pavlov was killed by a bomb placed in the elevator of a building.

"Several rebel chiefs considered to be adversaries of the separatist authorities have been killed far from the scene of fighting in car bombings and ambushes," said the French agency, and quoted "local authorities" as saying that the victim - who "took part in major battles against the Ukrainian forces around the Donetsk airport" - in June "survived an assassination attempt."

Beta said that among those "killed under unclear circumstances" was another military leader, Aleksei Mozgovoi.

Around 9,300 people have lost their lives so far in the two year war between pro-Russian rebels and Ukrainian authorities in eastern Ukraine, while more than 1.5 million people have been displaced.