Batman' Killed in Rebel Infighting

KIEV, Ukraine (TheBlaze/AP) — A Ukrainian security official says a prominent rebel commander, who went by the name "Batman" in the separatist eastern region of Luhansk, has been killed.

It seems to be a case of one pro-Russian rebel leader being killed on the orders of another pro-Russian commander.

Ukraine separatist Alexander Bednov, or "Batman," was confirmed to have been killed on Thursday. (Image via lenta.ru/Russian social media)

A website of the separatist Luhansk People's Republic said that Alexander Bednov, head of a battalion also called "Batman," was killed Thursday when separatist security forces tried to arrest him. An arrest warrant for Bednov and several other battalion members had been issued by the separatists' prosecutor's office for murder, abduction and other abuses.

Volodymyr Poleviy, a spokesman for Ukraine's security council, said Sunday that he could confirm Bednov's death, but that he couldn't give further details.

The Washington Post reported in initial coverage of the killing that the whole thing sounded like a super-villain face-off, as the man alleged to have ordered "Batman's" killing, Igor Plotnitsky, has a last name that could be translated into English as "The Carpenter."

The "Batman" battalion lamented Bednov's death and called for Plotnitsky's destruction on Russian social media, along with posting the below video:

There have been previous cases of infighting among rebels. In May, a battalion of murky origin ousted some rebels from their headquarters in Donetsk, ostensibly angered over a supermarket ransacking.

This story has been updated.

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