General Pavel Klimenko commands the Russian army's 5th Independent Motorized Rifle Brigade, which is stationed in occupied Donetsk Oblast in eastern Ukraine.
A group of pro-war Russian bloggers reported the commander's death on the social networking site VKontakte. Klimenko, it says, died “on the front line near Donetsk.” Details of his death were not disclosed.
Investigative site IStories reported that General Klimenko's sister confirmed his death on social media. The BBC editorial office in Russia also reported the general's death, citing information from close relatives.
A brigade that ran torture camps for soldiers who refused to fight
The Astra channel on Telegram reported in August that Klimenko's 5th Brigade ran a torture camp for Russian soldiers who refused to fight and extorted money from them. The same source recalls that in In April 2024, soldiers from the 5th Brigade allegedly tortured and killed Russell Bentley, a US citizen who fought alongside pro-Kremlin rebels in eastern Ukraine. Then Russian investigators reported that four Russian soldiers had been arrested on charges of abuse of power, as well as desecration and concealment of bodies.