Alexander Zakharchenko
Pro-Russian separatist leader of the Donetsk People's Republic.
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Alexander Vladimirovich Zakharchenko (26 June 1976 – 31 August 2018) was a pro-Russian separatist leader who was the Russia-installed head of state and prime minister of the Donetsk People's Republic, a self-proclaimed state and Russian-backed rebel group which declared independence from Ukraine on 11 May 2014. Installed by Moscow as both head of state and prime minister, he died in a café bombing in Donetsk in August 2018. After finishing technical college, Zakharchenko worked as a mine electrician and later started a mining business. He also studied at the Interior Ministry’s law institute.
Political career
In December 2013, he took charge of the Donetsk branch of Oplot, a pro-Russian militant group founded in Kharkiv by Yevgeny Zhilin. On 16 April 2014, during the turmoil following Ukraine’s Euromaidan protests, Zakharchenko and 19 other Oplot members—armed with clubs, rifles, and automatic weapons—seized the Donetsk City Council building, demanding a referendum on the region’s status. By late April, he commanded Oplot. From May 2014, Zakharchenko played a key role in the insurgency against Ukraine’s central government; leaked emails later revealed Russian backing for his rise.
On 22 July 2014, he was wounded in the arm during fighting at Kozhevnia. In late August, the DPR’s Ministry of Defence promoted him to major general. When Pavel Gubarev first met Zakharchenko in 2014, he recalled introducing himself as “Pavel, businessman,” to which Zakharchenko replied, “Alexander, bandit”—a nod to his ties with Donbas organized crime. Zakharchenko replaced Alexander Borodai as DPR prime minister on 7 August 2014, with Borodai becoming deputy.
Borodai later said Moscow installed Zakharchenko—a Donbas native—to make the uprising appear grassroots, adding that he himself had recommended Zakharchenko for the post. In September 2014, Zakharchenko led DPR negotiations at the Minsk Protocol, a peace plan for the Donbas war. In the 2014 Donetsk parliamentary elections, he won the premiership with 78.93% of the vote. The next day, Oplot founder Evgeniy Zhylin told Russian TV Rain that Zakharchenko’s appointment as Donetsk Oplot head and his candidacy for DPR leader were both promoted from Moscow.
Lore & Background
Zakharchenko graduated from technical college and worked as a mine electrician before opening a business in the mining industry. He studied with the law institute of the Interior Ministry. In December 2013, he became head of the Donetsk branch of OPLOT, a pro-Russian militant organization.
On 16 April 2014, 20 members of Oplot (including Zakharchenko), armed with clubs, rifles and some automatic weapons, occupied the offices of Donetsk City Council, demanding a referendum. By late April 2014, he was the commander of OPLOT. From May 2014, he played a leading role in the insurgency, with leaked emails showing Russia's role in his rise.
On 22 July 2014, he was wounded in the arm during a fight against Ukrainian government forces at Kozhevnia. In late August 2014, the DPR Ministry of Defence announced his promotion to major general. Pavel Gubarev recalled meeting Zakharchenko in 2014, describing how Zakharchenko introduced himself as 'Alexander, bandit,' alluding to his close ties with Donbass organised crime groups. He succeeded Alexander Borodai as DPR prime minister on 7 August 2014.
Borodai later stated that Donbas native Zakharchenko had been installed over him as part of a Russian government effort 'to try to show the West that the uprising was a grassroots phenomenon.' In September 2014, Zakharchenko was the lead negotiator for the DPR at the Minsk Protocol. During the 2014 Donetsk parliamentary elections, he won the prime ministership with 78.93% of the vote. In February 2015, he agreed to the Minsk II peace treaty, calling it a 'major victory for the Lugansk and Donetsk People's Republics.' He was wounded in the leg on 17 February 2015 during the closing stages of the Battle of Debaltseve.
Reader's Guide
Zakharchenko's political positions included wanting pensions 'higher than in Poland,' claiming Donetsk is 'like the United Arab Emirates' with coal, metallurgy, and natural gas. He promised to build 'a normal state, a good one, a just one,' and stated that democracy implying a family can have two fathers or two mothers is 'categorically unacceptable.' In an interview with Zakhar Prilepin on Tsargrad TV in late 2016, he said Britain must be conquered, ushering in a 'Golden Age for Russia.' In July 2015, he admired the far-right Ukrainian ultranationalist party Right Sector 'when they beat up the gays in Kyiv and when they tried to depose Poroshenko.' He was in favour of the death penalty. He expressed positive views on the Soviet Union, calling it 'love for the Motherland' and noting free medicine and free education as 'the best in the world.' He admired the Cuban revolution, Fidel Castro and Che Guevara, comparing Donbass separatists to Cuban revolutionaries. In October 2014, he declared he could shell any Ukrainian city with a clear conscience, stating: 'If I don't shell Avdiivka it's because my people live there, but I can shell any other Ukrainian city and I won't feel sorry for the civilians or anyone else.' During the war, there were many forced disappearances; Zakharchenko said his forces detained up to five 'Ukrainian subversives' every day.
Freelance journalist Stanislav Aseyev was abducted on 2 June 2017 under espionage charges; Amnesty International demanded Zakharchenko release him. Zakharchenko was killed by a bomb explosion in the café 'Separ' on Pushkin Boulevard in Donetsk on 31 August 2018. The DNR and Russian Federation blamed Ukraine; officials in Kyiv rejected the accusations, stating his death was the result of civil strife in the DNR. Russian President Vladimir Putin sent his condolences, calling his death a 'contemptible murder.'
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Alexander Zakharchenko (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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