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Valery Bolotov | |
|---|---|
Валерий Болотов | |
 Bolotov in 2014 | |
| Head of the Luhansk People's Republic[1] | |
| In office 18 May 2014 – 14 August 2014 | |
| Prime Minister | Vasily Nikitin Marat Bashirov(acting) |
| Deputy | Sergey Tsyplakov |
| Preceded by | Himself as LPR's "People's Governor" |
| Succeeded by | Igor Plotnitsky |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1970-02-13)13 February 1970 Taganrog,Russian SFSR, Soviet Union |
| Died | 27 January 2017(2017-01-27) (aged 46) Moscow, Russia |
| Nationality | Ukrainian |
| Political party | Party of Regions |
| Children | 2 |
| Signature |  |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  Luhansk People's Republic |
| Years of service | 2014–2017 |
| Battles/wars | |
Valery Dmitrievitch Bolotov (Russian:Вале́рий Дми́триевич Бо́лотов;[a]Ukrainian:Вале́рій Дми́трович Бо́лотов,romanized: Valerii Dmytrovych Bolotov; 13 February 1970 – 27 January 2017)[1] was a Ukrainianpro-Russia militant. In 2014, he became a prominent belligerent in theWar in Donbas after being elected as the "People's Governor" of the internationally unrecognizedLuhansk People's Republic, which was aRussia-aligned separatist quasi-country withinUkraine at the time. In 2017, he was found dead inside of his home inMoscow, Russia, under disputed circumstances; the exact cause of his death remains undetermined.
Little is known about Bolotov's life prior to 2014; in a video of him voting in a local referendum, he presents a Ukrainian passport which indicates that he was born inTaganrog,Rostov Oblast on 13 February 1970. In 1974, he moved toKadiivka, in theLuhansk Oblast, eastern Ukraine.[2]
Bolotov claimed to be a senior sergeant of theSoviet Airborne Troops inVitebsk (presumably the103rd Guards Airborne Division), and between 1989 and 1990 participated in a number of conflicts, including those inTbilisi, Yerevan andKarabakh.[3] He later became the head of the airborne veterans group, while no one of the Luhansk Oblast group cell can confirm it.[3]
Bolotov worked as a manager and director at a meat factory and used to run a small business.[2]
Before the pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Bolotov was a representative ofOleksandr Yefremov who supervisedillegal mining in the region.[4]
In 2014, Bolotov became a leader of an armed group during the2014 pro-Russian conflict in Ukraine. On May 13, 2014, Bolotov survived an assassination attempt as assailants fired automatic weapons towards his car, wounding the militant leader.[5] Bolotov was then briefly captured by theUkrainian army on May 17 after he attempted to re-enterLuhansk following his having received treatment for his injury at a hospital in Russia.[6] However, armed supporters of the Luhansk People's Republic attacked the Ukrainian army checkpoint where Bolotov was being held shortly afterwards and successfully freed the "People's Governor".[6] He resigned from the position on 14 August 2014.[7]
Bolotov was found dead on 27 January 2017 in his own home inMoscow,Russia.[1] Investigators tried to determine the cause of his death as the preliminary results of clinical tests showed anacute heart failure as the cause of his death.[8][9][10] His wife later claimed that he may have been poisoned.[11] Though more detailed report of the local police office claimed that there were no obvious signs of acute heart failure and only smallatherosclerotic plaques were identified instead,[12] it was known that before death he was complaining to his wife about his health deterioration, which happened right after drinking a cup of coffee at the business meeting in company with two men he allegedly knew,[13] it became later known that Bolotov met with ex-speaker of thePeople's Council of the LPR [ru]Alexey Karyakin andValery Alexandrovich as he had said and added also that the meeting was appointed by request of Bolotov himself.[14] Bolotov's corpse was later tested for the presence of the poisoning drugs in his body at the request of his wife, but as of 2018, the results are unknown.[12]
His widow has two children.[3]
Media related toValery Bolotov at Wikimedia Commons
