Ukraine accuses Russians in deputy’s murder

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has accused the so-called "Strilka" group that is active in the Donetsk Oblast and a citizen of the Russian Federation, Colonel Igor Bezler, of involvement in the murder of the deputy of the of the Horlivka City Council Volodymyr Rybak, the SUB reports on its website, April 23, 2014. According to the SUB, it has been determined that on Aril 17, Bezler (alias Bez) ordered the head of the self-proclaimed militia of the town of Horlivka to "neutralize" Volodymyr Rybak, who had tried to raise the Ukrainian national flag on the Horlivka City Council building. At the same time, Bezler gave orders to a member of the group, a soldier with the Russian Federation, to kidnap Rybak, place him in a car, and take him to an appointed place, where physical force was to be applied. Bezler then planned to go to the location where Rybak was being held. Then, according to instructions from "Strilka" (Igor Strelkov), Volodymyr Rybak was delivered to the headquarters of the separatist militants in Sloviansk, where Igor Strelkov was to talk with him personally. It has also been established that on April 20, 2014, Strelkov personally instructed the self-proclaimed mayor of Sloviansk, Vacheslav Ponomarev, to remove the body of the murdered Volodymyr Rybak from the headquarters location. This is what Ponomarov did, the Service claims

Statement of the Press Center of the SBU, April 23, 2014

We announce that the citizen of the Russian Federation Igor Ivanovich Strelkov is being sought by the Security Service of Ukraine. Criminal proceedings have been initiated against him in connection with the organization of the murder (of Volodymyr Rybak) and actions against the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and the inviolability of Ukraine through sabotage and the organization of mass riots in the eastern regions of Ukraine. Igor Strelkov is an officer of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and the assistant in police matters to the self-proclaimed "prime minister" of Crimea, Sergei Aksyonov. In Crimea, Strelkov was responsible for the seizure of military units and government and administration buildings and participated in the interrogation of Ukrainian soldiers and the recruitment of our citizens in Crimea. It has been established that in early April, Strelkov received a direct order from Moscow to launch a large-scale sabotage operation on the Ukrainian mainland, especially in the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts. As previously reported, the SBU has determined that members of the reconnaissance and sabotage group, consisting of more than 30 people under the direction of Strelkov, on April 13, 2014, carried out an armed attack on the employees of SBU, during which one SBU employee was killed and three were wounded. Strelkov also directed the actions of armed persons who illegally detained soldiers of the 25th separate airborne brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Sloviansk, on April 16, 2014. Igor Bezler, a citizen of the Russian Federation born in 1965, is also being sought. According to reliable sources, Bezler served in units of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Russian Federation until 2002, ending service as a lieutenant colonel. Then he was sent to Ukraine. In February 2014, Bezler reestablished contact with the Intelligence Directorate. As instructed by Russian intelligence, Bezler travelled to Crimea, where he participated in the seizure of military units and government and administration buildings. In April 2014, on orders of the Russian military intelligence, Bezler, as a participant in a subversive group, was involved in the seizure of the SBU building in the Donetsk Oblast, and then in the seizure of the police precinct building in Horlivka. At this time, Bezler is probably in Horlivka, in the district police building that had been seized by the terrorists. He moves around the city accompanied by a group of guards armed with automatic weapons.

Source: http://www.sbu.gov.ua/sbu/control/uk/publish/article?art_id=124470&cat_id=39574