Notorious warlord killed in bombing in eastern Ukraine

FILE - In this Sunday, May 18, 2014 file photo, Donetsk People's Republic platoon commander Arsen Pavlov, also known as Motorola, rides a bike at a checkpoint blocking the major highway which links Kharkiv, outside Slovyansk, eastern Ukraine. Separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine say a notorious warlord has been killed in a bombing in the rebel stronghold of Donetsk. The separatist mouthpiece Donetsk News Agency said on Sunday, Oct. 16, 2016, Arsen Pavlov was killed in Donetsk when a bomb went off in an elevator in the house he was staying. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File) (The Associated Press)

FILE - In this Friday, July 11, 2014 file photo, a platoon commander Arsen Pavlov, also known as Motorola, center, attends his and Elena Kolenkina's wedding ceremony with Igor Strelkov, left, a pro-Russian separatist commander, in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine. The separatist mouthpiece Donetsk News Agency said on Sunday, Oct. 16, 2016, Pavlov was killed in Donetsk when a bomb went off in an elevator in the house he was staying. (AP Photo/Dmitry Lovetsky, File) (The Associated Press)

MOSCOW – Separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine say a notorious warlord has been killed in a bombing in the rebel stronghold of Donetsk.

The separatist Donetsk News Agency said on Sunday that Arsen Pavlov, also known as Motorola, was killed in Donetsk when a bomb exploded in an elevator in an apartment building where he was staying. He is one of several prominent warlords who have been killed in bombings in the past year which Ukraine watchers attribute to infighting among the separatists. Pavlov once admitted killing 15 prisoners of war.

The conflict between separatists and Ukrainian government forces has been raging since April 2014, killing more than 9,600 people.

Russian-born Pavlov, 33, worked in a car wash before he crossed the border and joined the separatists in 2014.