Colombian rebels reported killing of a Russian citizen
The Colombian group the ELN has admitted the murder of Russian citizen Arsen Voskanyan. The representative of the militants said he was killed while trying to escape.
In an interview with Reuters the gunman ELN said that were held hostage from November 2016 Voskanyan was killed while trying to escape in April. Supposedly he took a grenade and was shot dead. “The grenade exploded a few of our injured. He tried to escape, but was killed”, — said the representative of the group, introduced himself as Orson. The latter called himself a commander of a “Front name of Ernesto Che Guevara”.
Information about the death of vosganian confirmed by another source to Reuters.
ELN kidnapped Voskanyan, who went to Colombia as a tourist, accusing him of collecting poisonous frogs. The militants said that the Russians tried to bring them abroad as contraband.
A few months ago, the ELN claimed that Voskanyan managed to escape when the militants tried to deliver it to the local office of the red cross. Then the extremists claimed that during his escape Voskanyan killed several rebels.
The leftist ELN, a recognized terrorist group in the EU and the United States, repeatedly took in hostages of foreign citizens, demanding a ransom. The militants say that this is the only way to feed themselves, demanding as a condition for the peaceful settlement of permanent subsidies from the state. According to Reuters, the death of the Russians may hinder the continuation of talks in the capital of Ecuador, Quito.
Last year the agreement on a cease-fire with the government of Colombia signed the largest group of rebels — the FARC responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of people.