The suspected drug dealer filmed being tortured to death by pro-Russian rebels to teach him a lesson is a Ukrainian who was 'disappeared'.

In footage posted online, Aleksey Frumkin, 42, had his wrists tied to a wooden post with masking tape and was beaten mercilessly with electric cables until the skin on his back begins to bleed.

In the shocking video, Frumkin begs for his life, saying: 'Stop please! I'll say what you need. I will call another drug dealer and he will arrive with drugs.

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Agony: The suspected drug dealer who was filmed being tortured to death by pro-Russian rebels has been identified Aleksey Frumkin, 42, from south east Ukraine

Supporter: Frumkin (pictured) is thought to have welcomed the pro-Russian rebels into Ukraine, and supported them in the bloody civil war against his government

Torture: In the deeply distressing video, Frumkin (pictured) is seen begging for his life as he is beaten mercilessly with electric cables

'I swear I told everything. God I can't stand it anymore, I want to live. Please, please.'

The torturer replies: 'Drug dealers and junkies please come here to us, we have a way to deal with people like you. Come to us and we will cure all of you.

'But this fellow will be slaughtered as a dog. He will live until he has stopped talking about his fellow drug dealers and has given us information, and then he will be dead.

'See how he has p***** and s*** himself. He thinks we will have some mercy on him, but we will kill him.

'Don't scream so much you will scare all the people around. I even broke my lash on your useless back,' he adds.

Meanwhile, a man holding the camera is heard saying: 'The f****** film shooting has started. This is the punishment of a drug dealer.'

Frumkin, believed to be a drug dealer, was allegedly tortured by the pro-Russian rebels he supported against Ukraine's government.

The 'punishment' happened in the town of Communar, Donetsk Oblast, in southern Ukraine, which is currently occupied by pro-Russian rebels

It shows the man begging for his life and tied with red tape to a wooden post as he is repeatedly whipped with electrical cables

Better times: The video which shows Frumkin (pictured) being mercilessly tortured is thought to have been shot in his home city Kommunar, in the south east Donetsk region of Ukraine

Doomed: Frumkin's (pictured) friends have said he delighted when Ukraine split at the start of 2014 but by the end of the year, he was accused of being a drug dealer

He claimed to be a member of the Moscow-backed Donetsk Peoples Republic (DPR) rebels that fought Ukraine's soldiers in the country's bloody civil war.

The video is thought to have been shot in Frumkin's home city Kommunar, in the south east Donetsk region of Ukraine in October 2014 - around the time his family reported him missing.

In May his relatives launched an appeal for information on his whereabouts.

Claiming he and others had been arrested by 'Cossaks' in Donetsk, the family said: 'A few days later all of them were released, except for Aleksey.'

They added that the other prisoners who had been held along with Frumkin told them he had been beaten up but was still alive when they were released, although he was held.

They said that when they went to the prosecutor's office, where he was supposedly being held, Frumkin was not there.

His friends say he was a supporter of the very rebels who reportedly tortured him.

Merciless: 'See how he has p***** and s*** himself. He thinks we will have some mercy on him, but we will kill him,' the torturer told Frumkin in the video

Confession: Frumkin denied being a drug dealer in the video and told his torturer he would say anything he wanted

They claim he was delighted when Ukraine split at the start of 2014 but by the end of the year, he was accused of being a drug dealer.

On one of his social media profiles, he praised the rebel groups in Ukraine and welcomed the arrival of the Russians.