Alexander Zakharchenko

Alexander Vladimirovich Zakharchenko (Russian: Алекса́ндр Влади́мирович Заха́рченко, IPA: [ɐlʲɪˈksandr vlɐˈdʲimʲɪrəvʲɪtɕ zɐˈxartɕɪnkə], Ukrainian: Олекса́ндр Володи́мирович Заха́рченко; 26 June 1976 – 31 August 2018) was a separatist leader, who was the head of state and Prime Minister of the self-proclaimed state and a rebel group Donetsk People's Republic, which declared independence from Ukraine on 11 May 2014. Zakharchenko was appointed Prime Minister in August 2014 after his predecessor, Alexander Borodai, resigned, and went on to win the early November 2014 election for the position.

Political career

Zakharchenko was born in Donetsk on 26 June 1976. He graduated from technical college and then worked as a mine electrician. He rose to prominence in April 2014 as commander of a militia, formed from members of the civic and martial arts group Oplot, that led the separatist takeover of the 11-story government headquarters in central Donetsk. On 16 May 2014 Zakharchenko was appointed 'military commandant of Donetsk'. Since May 2014 Zakharchenko has played a major role in the insurgency against Ukraine's central government. On 24 July 2014 he was awarded the rank General Major in the DPR armed forces, shortly after he was wounded in the arm during fighting with Ukraine government forces.

Zakharchenko succeeded Alexander Borodai as Prime Minister on 7 August 2014. Borodai then became the DPR Deputy Prime Minister. According to Borodai, Donbass native Zakharchenko succeeded him in a Russian government effort "to try to show the West that the uprising was a grassroots phenomenon". Borodai claims he personally recommended Zakharchenko as Prime Minister.

In September 2014, Zakharchenko was the lead negotiator for the DPR at the Minsk Protocol, which agreed to a peace plan for the War in Donbass.

During the 2 November 2014 Donetsk parliamentary elections, Zakharchenko won the prime ministership with 78.93% of the vote.

In February, 2015 Zakharchenko, representing the DPR, agreed to the Minsk II peace treaty, calling it a “major victory for the Lugansk and Donetsk people’s republics.” After signing the Minsk agreements, Zakharchenko stated that should the Ukrainian authorities violate the terms of the agreements, fail to withdraw from the border or fail to release the Donetsk POWs, he would take Kharkiv and destroy the Ukrainian battalions in Debaltseve. Additionally, Zakharchenko stated that he had no intention on adhering to the ceasefire within the Debaltseve region. He was subsequently wounded in action during the closing stages of the Battle of Debaltseve. In January 2016, he described the village of Kozhevnia as "a milestone for me", saying that it was "our first offensive. Unfortunately, in the course of fighting we practically destroyed this village. By burning down houses, we saved our lives and the lives of our people."

Political positions

During the parliamentary election campaign Zakharchenko told potential voters that he wanted pensions to be "higher than in Poland." Zakharchenko said this was feasible because Donetsk is very rich, "like the United Arab Emirates. ... "We have coal, metallurgy, natural gas . . . The difference between us and the Emirates is they don’t have a war there and we do.” Zakharchenko promised to build "a normal state, a good one, a just one. Our boys died for this, civilians are still being killed for this until now."

In an interview in late 2016, he proclaimed that Britain must be conquered, what would usher in a “Golden Age for Russia,” he said.

Zakharchenko was in favour of the death penalty.

Human rights abuses

During the War in Donbass there have been many cases of forced disappearances on the territory of the so-called Donetsk People's Republic. Zakharchenko said that his forces detained up to five "Ukrainian subversives" each day. It was estimated that about 632 people were under illegal detention by separatist forces on 11 December 2014.

On 2 June 2017 the freelance journalist Stanislav Aseyev was abducted. Firstly the de facto DNR government denied knowing his whereabouts but on 16 July, an agent of the DNR's "Ministry of State Security" confirmed that Aseyev was in their custody and that he is suspected of "espionage". Independent media is not allowed to report from the "DNR"-controlled territory.

Personal life

Zakharchenko has a wife Natalia, and four sons. On 30 July 2015, his fourth son Alexander was born.

Death

Zakharchenko was assassinated by a bombing in the cafe "Separ", in Donetsk on 31 August 2018. Preliminary reports say DNR's' finance minister Alexander Timofeyev was wounded in the blast as well. The Security Service of Ukraine suggests that Russia may be involved in the assassination. The DNR and Moscow blame the Ukrainian authorities; officials in Kiev reject these accusations, stating that Zakharchenko's death was the result of civil strife in the DNR. Initial reports indicate Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Trapeznikov was appointed acting head of the Donetsk People’s Republic.