Alexander Khodakovsky

Lieutenant colonel Alexander Khodakovsky
Khodakovsky in 2014
Native name	Александр Сергеевич Ходаковский
Born	(1972-12-18) 18 December 1972 (age 51) Donetsk, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
Allegiance	Russia  Donetsk People's Republic  Ukraine (formerly)
Service / branch	Vostok Brigade (from May 2014) Security Service of Ukraine Alpha Group (until March 2014)
Rank	Lieutenant colonel
Battles / wars	Russo-Ukrainian War War in Donbas Russian invasion of Ukraine 2023 Ukrainian counteroffensive
Other work	Donetsk People's Republic Deputy Prime Minister (May – July 2014) Donetsk People's Republic Security Minister (May 2014–2016[1])

Alexander Sergeevich Khodakovsky (Russian: Алекса́ндр Серге́евич Ходако́вский, IPA: [ɐlʲɪkˈsandr sʲɪrˈɡʲejɪvʲɪtɕ xədɐˈkofskʲɪj]) is a Russian separatist paramilitary commander who is the commander of the Vostok Brigade, which formed in early May 2014 during the early phases of the War in Donbas.

Khodakovsky is a former commander of Ukraine's Alpha special unit of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU). During the 2014 insurgency in Donbas, he defected and became the leader of the pro-Russian "Patriotic Forces of Donbas" in Donetsk Oblast, and later (until 16 July 2014, when he was replaced by Vladimir Antyufeyev^[2]) the Security Minister of the Donetsk People's Republic.^[3] On 19 August 2014, reports began to emerge that Khodakovsky had been arrested by law enforcement agencies.^[4] It was later clarified by the Interior Ministry that it was Semyon Khodakovsky, a junior rebel commander, that had been detained.^[5] In May 2018, Khodakovsky relocated to Russia, and in September 2018, he claimed that Russian border guards did not let him return to Donetsk.^[6][7]

On 23 July 2014, the international news agency Reuters reported Khodakovsky had in an interview confirmed that pro-Russian rebels had obtained a Buk missile system, which they used to shoot down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 and then "probably" sent it back to Russia to remove proof of its presence.^[8][9]

This Reuters interview was quickly disputed by another rebel leader, Alexander Borodai.^[10] And Khodakovsky quickly denied having told Reuters that separatists possessed Buk missiles when the Malaysia airliner crashed in the region: "We were discussing theories but one simple phrase was cutting throughout like a red line that I do not have the information on militia possessing such kind of a weapon." Khodakovsky said he had told Reuters that he was not an expert and could not comment on the crash. Khodakovsky said he neither agreed with nor denied claims that rebels had shot down the plane. He only said that if Ukrainian authorities knew that the DPR allegedly possessed Buks, they should have banned civilian flights in the Donetsk airspace.^[11] Reuters said it stands by its story and produced an audio recording of part of the interview, in which a man who sounds like Khodakovsky confirms key comments made by Khodakovsky about the militia obtaining the Buk from Russia and using it to shoot down MH17.^[12]

In November 2014, he repeated his claim that the separatists had a Buk launcher at the time, but stated that the vehicle, under control of fighters from Luhansk, had still been on its way to Donetsk when MH17 crashed. It then retreated in order to avoid being placed under blame.^[13]

In December 2022, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, he said that the only way Russia can win the war against Ukraine would be through the use of nuclear weapons.^[14]

During the 2023 Ukrainian counteroffensive, Khodakovsky and the Vostok Brigade were in charge of defending the village of Urozhaine, on the border of the Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia Oblasts. The village was described by The New York Times as a "stronghold" and an important part of the Russian defensive network on the Velyka Novosilka axis.^[15] Despite this, Russian media and Khodakovsky himself made it clear that the strategically important village would be solely defended by the Vostok Brigade against elite detachments from the Ukrainian Marine Corps. Fighting for the village began on 6 August 2023, and Khodakovsky announced that the Vostok Brigade would be withdrawing from the village on 15 August, stating that their defensive position had become untenable.^[16][17][18] Ukraine announced the liberation of the settlement on 16 August, and has been noted using artillery to shell retreating members of the Vostok Brigade resulting in high casualties among Khodakovsky's troops.^{[19][20][21][22]}

In August 2023 Khodakovsky said that Russia would not be able to win the war militarily in the near term and that Russian forces would have difficulty occupying additional Ukrainian cities. He concluded that Russia would likely have to come to a "truce" and that Russia may enter a phase "of neither peace nor war" with Ukraine. Khodakovsky opined that Russia would be able to exert more influence over Ukraine in such a situation than in the current state of active war.^[23]

Sanctioned by the British government in 2014 in relation to Russo-Ukrainian War.^[24]

• Iryna Dovhan
• Sanctions involving Russia

• Alexander Khodakovsky at OpenSanctions
• Alexander Khodakovsky at Sanction catalog list
• The Donetsk People's Republic and some EU blacklisted leaders Archived 4 June 2023 at the Wayback Machine at Human Rights Without Frontiers