Millionaire playboy reveals he is giving away his money to fund war against pro-Russian rebels and taking up arms to fight them after 14 Ukrainians are killed in ambush

Government troops 'ambushed' by pro-Russian militants in Ukraine

The ensuing violence saw 14 people killed, at least ten were soldiers

Clash took place 15miles from the MH17 crash site in east Ukraine

Team of investigators have set out for a second visit to site today



A Kiev millionaire has announced that he is selling his luxury possessions and donating his wealth to the army as he joins the fight against pro-Russian rebels in east Ukraine.



Vyacheslav Konstantinovsky, 53, has joined the army in Donbas, and has put his assets, including a Rolls Royce Phantom, on the market to benefit the military.



The news of Konstantinovsky's dedication comes after as many as 14 Ukrainian soldiers died in clashes with rebels near the crash site of flight MH17 on Friday.

Joining the fight: Millionaire Vyacheslav Konstantinovsky, famous in Ukraine for model girlfriends, fast cars, and mansion homes, has given up his luxury life to join the army

Duty: Konstantinovsky, right, is Ukraine's 44th richest man - alongside his brother - but is now fighting in Donbas

Clashes: Government soldiers fire on pro-Russian separatists near Pervomaysk in east Ukraine on Thursday, as at least ten soldiers were killed in an alleged ambush today Army sources confirmed 14 people have been killed today, ten of them Ukrainian Airborne Troops soldiers, in what Kiev says was an ambush set up by militants near the town of Shakhtarsk, eastern Ukraine. The bloody confrontation took place 15miles from the MH17 crash site, where an international team of experts is due to carry out inspections today. RELATED ARTICLES Previous

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MH17 investigators finally reach crash site of the doomed... Share this article Share Vyacheslav is worth over £2million and, along with his identical twin brother Aleksander, he is Ukraine's 44th richest person.

Vyacheslav has taken to social media to confirm that he has joined the fight in east Ukraine.

‘Friends, thank you again for your kind words. It's true that I am on my way there, although those who are still fighting are the real heroes,’ he wrote on his Facebook page.

Contrast: Kiev millionaire Konstantinovsky, 53, pictured sitting second from right, with his paramilitary group Then and now: The millionaire businessman has swapped beach holidays and models for military gear

Targeted: Vyacheslav, right, and his brother Aleksander, left, were the supposed targets in a 'Russian organised crime' murder plot in 2006, which was stopped by the FBI Addressing the sale of his Rolls Royce Phantom, he said: ‘In a previous life, it was a symbol of success in life. Now, my priorities have changed.

‘I am ready to sell or trade it for things needed by our army.

‘Those interested please PM me. Privacy guaranteed.’

After spending several years in the U.S. Vyacheslav and his brother returned to Ukraine and built their empire by setting up the Kiev-Donbass Development Group (KDD), which has investments in several areas, including a restaurant group, a fast-food chain and construction work.

They are known anti-Russians, and were the targets in a 2006 murder plot by the Russian mafia which was foiled by the FBI in New York.

At the time, the U.S. Department of Justice referred to the arrested suspects as ‘Russian organised crime figures’. The clashes in east Ukraine on Friday morning is said to have been an ambush by pro-Russian separatists, and although the initial death toll was reported as 20, this was later reduced to 14.



Inspection: Members of a group of international experts walk past passengers' belongings at the site where the downed MH17 crashed in Donetsk region, in eastern Ukraine

Uncovering the truth: Friday marked the group's second visit to the crash site

Military efforts: A government soldier drives a car near Pervomaysk as a group of international experts have set out to make a second visit to the MH17 crash site on Friday Clashes continue in the area surrounding the MH17 crash site, making it difficult for international experts to reach the area to recover an estimated 80 bodies still at the site

‘In total it is known that 14 people died but the bodies of four of them have not been identified and could be Ukrainian soldiers or terrorists,’ said military spokesman Oleksiy Dmytrashkivsky.

‘So far we are talking about 10 Ukrainian servicemen dead.’

The death toll of 14 had been reduced from 20, which had been reported earlier in the day.

Meanwhile, a convoy of international investigators set out for a second visit to the crash site but on a road that did not go through Shakhtarsk.

A small team managed to perform an initial survey of the area for the first time yesterday.

For days, clashes along routes to the wreckage site had kept investigators from reaching the area to find and retrieve bodies that have been decaying in the 32C heat. Independent observers warned that there has been tampering with evidence.

Today, the team were travelling in 15 cars and one bus from their base in the rebel stronghold of Donetsk. Their convoy was joined by three vehicles from the International Committee of the Red Cross when it reached the government-controlled town of Debaltseve.

United: Dutch Prime minister Mark Rutte welcomes Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak upon his arrival in The Hague on Thursday, to discuss the Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 crash in Ukraine

Both sides in the conflict in east Ukraine have tentatively agreed to a ceasefire around the crash zone, although there is evidence that fighting is continuing in nearby locations.

It is believed up to 80 bodies may still remain uncollected at the crash site, which is spread in a broad area across fields between two villages.

Investigators working on the site say their first priority will be to recover human remains and retrieve victims' belongings, so that they can be returned home.

New violence could jeopardise hopes of the investigation into the cause of the crash in which 298 perished and could also prevent the collection of an estimated 80 bodies still at the site.

Dutch police leading the international probe say the crash site remains perilous.

‘The security situation is still very unstable,’ said Pieter-Jaap Aalbersberg, head of the mission to repatriate the remains of the victims.

‘We are not absolutely sure if we can reach the crash site with the whole team of experts in the near future, but we are more hopeful than we were yesterday.’