Notorious Russian commander Lt-Col Dmitry Lisitsky has been found dead of a gunshot wound at the age of 48 amid conflicting accounts regarding the events surrounding his death. Ukraine claims he was “liquidated” in reprisal for the deaths of hundreds of its soldiers during the retreat from Ilovaisk following a bloody battle in 2014.
However, Russian sources claim Lisitsky committed suicide with his hunting rifle in his Stavropol home due to depression caused by the ongoing war in Ukraine.
Lisitsky was a decorated soldier who was named a Hero of Russia.
He was the leader of the 247th Airborne Assault Regiment’s 1st Airborne Assault Battalion.
Yuri Butusov, a Ukrainian journalist, broke the news of Lisitsky’s death, saying that Kiev forces were responsible for “avenging Ilovaisk” by “liquidating” him.
Butusov claimed that Lisitsky’s regiment had suffered significant losses during Russia’s retreat from Kharkiv, and the death of the commander would seriously weaken their combat capabilities.
Lisitsky was allegedly depressed after being accused of illegal actions against military personnel during the war against Ukraine, but no further details were given about the complaint.
Lisitsky commanded the Russian battalion group responsible for attacking Ukrainian soldiers during a mutually agreed ceasefire, resulting in at least 366 deaths, 450 injuries, and 300 captures.
Putin awarded Lisitsky the Hero of Russia medal in 2015.
The massacre occurred during the Ilovaisk battle, in which Ukrainian soldiers were surrounded by pro-Russian insurgents and soldiers from Russia’s armed forces.
It comes as fighting has intensified near a nuclear power plant n Ukraine that is Europe’s largest, further increasing the possibility of a war-related nuclear accident, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency said Tuesday.
But there was also a hint of optimism, with IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi saying he believed reaching an agreement with the two sides on protecting the plant and so preventing a nuclear disaster was “close.”
In an interview with The Associated Press a day before he was to cross the front lines for a second time to visit the plant, Grossi said he felt it was his duty to ramp up talks aimed at safeguarding the facility.
He met Monday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and said he would “most probably” head to Russia in the coming days.
Grossi said: “There is an increased level of combat, active combat” in the area of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant,
“My teams there report daily about the attacks, the sound of heavy weaponry. This is practically constant.”
Grossi has long called for a protection zone to be set up around the plant, which is very near the front line of the war. But so far, an agreement has been elusive.
