Following the killing of a commander of a separatist military unit in eastern Ukraine, information has surfaced claiming the commander ran a secret prison that regularly used torture and that he was apparently killed by fellow separatists.
The prosecutor's office of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic (LNR) released a statement on January 2 confirming the death of Aleksandr Bednov, known as "Batman," who led the LNR's 4th Brigade.
The prosecutor's office also said in its statement that arrest warrants had been issued at the end of December for Bednov and several other members of his unit on charges they ran a torture chamber in the basement of a separatist-held building.
The prosecutor's office said Bednov was killed on January 1 when he attempted to resist arrest.
Bednov's unit has accused LNR leader Igor Plotnitsky of killing Bednov.
A video was posted on YouTube showing one of the members of the "Batman" gang, identified as Aleksei Dakhnenko, who described how people were tortured in the basement.
