Igor Bezler | |
|---|---|
 Bezler in 2014 | |
| Nickname | "Bes" (Imp) |
| Born | (1965-12-30)30 December 1965 (age 59) |
| Allegiance |  Soviet Union(until 1991) Ukraine(1991–2014)[1] Donetsk People's Republic(2014–present) |
| Branch |  Donbas People's Militia |
| Rank | Major General |
| Battles / wars | Soviet–Afghan War Russo-Ukrainian War |
| Awards |
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Igor Nikolayevich Bezler (Russian:Игорь Николаевич Безлер;Ukrainian:Ігор Миколайович Бєзлєр,romanized: Ihor Mykolayovych Byezlyer; born 1965,Simferopol,[2]Crimean Oblast,Ukrainian SSR), known by the pseudonym"Bes" (Russian:Бес, English:Imp)[3] is one of the pro-Russian rebel leaders whose group controlled the local police department inHorlivka.[citation needed]
He was a prominent commander in the early phases of theRusso-Ukrainian War: the2014 Russian military intervention in Crimea and the2014 War in Donbas. In 2014 he went into hiding and as of 2016 issued statements denouncing the Russian-backed separatist groups.[citation needed]
In November 2020Bellingcat claimed that Bezler, with a fakeRussian passport issued to the name ofIgor Nikolaevich Beregovoy (Игорь Николаевич Береговой), lives inRussian annexedCrimea since October 2014.[4][5]
Bezler's father, Nikolai Bezler (or Mykola Byezlyer inUkrainian), was anethnic German (original spelling of his surname in German – Besler[citation needed]), his mother was an ethnic Ukrainian, but she considers herself Russian.[6]
He served in theSoviet Army in Afghanistan (1983–84) and fought against the separatist forces inChechnya. He was awarded theOrder of the Red Star. In 1994-97 Bezler studied at theDzerzhinsky Military Academy.[7][8] (It is possible that this reference is to theFSB Academy.)
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) claims that until 2002 he served in detachments of the Russian General StaffGRU retiring as a lieutenant colonel.[9] In 2002 Bezler moved to Ukraine.
According to Ukrainian officials, in February 2014 he was contacted by agents of the GRU. Complying with their instructions, Bezler supposedly moved toCrimea where he participated in number of violent events connected with taking over of military installations and government facilities. In April 2014, as a member of a diversion group, Bezler helped take over theSBU headquarters inDonetsk Oblast and theInterior Ministry district department inHorlivka.[10]
On 14 April 2014 a YouTube video showed a man claiming to be a lieutenant colonel of the Russian army addressing police officers[11] at the pro-Russian-heldHorlivka police station[12] and naming a new police chief.[11]
The man was subsequently identified as Bezler. Ukraine accused him andIgor Strelkov of orchestrating the killing of Horlivka deputyVolodymyr Ivanovych Rybak.[13][14] Bezler denies his involvement.[15]
According to transcripts of conversations Ukraine's intelligence services claims it intercepted at the time of the crash of MH17, Bezler was aware of an aircraft crashing.[16] Bezler has said that the talk had really taken place but that he had talked about a Ukrainian attack aircraft shot down by the militia a day before the Malaysian airliner crash.[17]
Shaun Walker, a reporter forThe Guardian, claims that Bezler "is regarded as something of a loose cannon, even by other rebels, who speak about him in hushed tones." When Walker interviewed Bezler with the hope of asking him about the MH17 crash, Bezler reportedly bragged that he summarily executes some of the combatants he captures: "Those who are fighting with the Ukrainian army, we keep as prisoners. Those who are fighting with volunteer battalions, we question them and then shoot them on the spot. Why should we show any pity to them?... You should see what they have done to my people. They chop off their heads and shit in the helmets! They are fascists! So why should we stand on ceremony with them? Questioning, an execution, that's it. I will hang those fuckers from lampposts!".[18]
According to Walker, when Bezler saw the journalists recording this conversation, he ordered, "Burn their notebooks! Seize their electronics! Search everything for compromising material and then destroy it! If you find anything, execute them as spies!... Don't think for one minute I will hesitate to have you shot."[18]
In November 2014 Bezler disappeared from public sight in Donbas and speculations about his death was circulated by some Ukrainian media (including a version that he was assassinated byRussian special services).Luhansk People's Republic representatives admitted "he leftDonbas" but rejected the claims about his death.[19] A video appeared on YouTube by the end of November 2014 in which Bezler appeared, explaining he's alive and in Ukraine'sPoltava Oblast.[20]
In November 2019Bellingcat research claimed that on 27 October 2014 Bezler moved with a fakeRussian passport toRussian annexedCrimea and has lived there since.[4]
In early March 2016 Bezler claimed in a post onsocial networkVK that he "always was and still am a supporter of a singlesovereignfederal Ukraine, but withoutNazis and obsessivenationalism" and had never been a supporter of the recreation ofNovorossiya.[21] He stated that theDonetsk People's Republic had become a "banana republic" with akleptocratic leadership.[21]
He was sanctioned by theUK government in 2014 in relation to theRusso-Ukrainian War.[22]
On 19 December 2014 Bezler was placed on the Specially Designated Nationals List by the U.S Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).[23] This placement prohibits U.S. persons from undertaking any business with him without first obtaining a license from OFAC.
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