Forbidden Donut

A MAN dubbed the "Russian Rambo" was killed in a shootout after terrorising the elite police taskforce which tried to flush him out of his forest home.

Alexander Bichkov - known only as “Rambo” until police discovered his real name after his death - had spent 20 years living in a nature reserve while terrifying locals and authorities who dared enter his wilderness, the Daily Mail reported.

According to the Mail, the 200cm tall Russian was hunted down by a team of six specialist police officers after government officials in Moscow became fed up with local police .

But after the crack team discovered Bichkov’s shack on March 14 in the Kostrama region (about 725km east of Moscow) and called in an additional four armed forestry officials to help with his capture, “Rambo” lept into action.

Armed with two shotguns and a pistol, Bichkov shot three of his hunters in an ambush before starting a series of fires around the forest to confuse those hunting him as to his whereabouts.

He then began tracking the team and police believed he was preparing to launch another offensive before a police sniper shot him in the head. Police officer Andrei Potemkin said it was lucky none of the team were killed in the first shootout.

“He ambushed us and I told him to surrender and that we wouldn’t hurt him – he yelled, 'I’ve got nothing to lose’ and opened fire,” Potemkin said.
“He hit two of the others and fired at me. My bullet-proof vest saved my life.
“He’s a real professional – while we were helping the wounded, he made a circle around us, hiding in the smoke, and cut us off.”
Mr Potemkin said the sniper was lucky to have even seen Bichkov approach the team. “It was pure chance the sniper suddenly saw his figure in the trees and pulled the trigger. He shot him right in the head and he died in a flash.”

Since his death, police have discovered that the Bichkov disappeared from his home in the Kostrama region after refusing to pay alimony to his ex-wife. The Mail reported that local police refused to go into the forest that Bichkov had fled to after he captured a senior officer – who was on a hunting trip – and held him at gunpoint for several hours before releasing him. It is believed Bichkov was responsible for burning down 30 holiday homes on the edge of the forest – but no effort was made by police to bring him in for questioning. His relatives had Bichkov declared legally dead in 1997 – allowing the sale of his assets – because they had not seen him for years.