Alexander Zakharchenko

Alexander Zakharchenko
Александр Захарченко
Олександр Захарченко

Aleksander Zakharchenko in December 2014.
1st Head of the Donetsk People's Republic
Assumed office
4 November 2014
Preceded by Inaugural
2nd Prime Minister of the Donetsk People's Republic
Assumed office
7 August 2014
Deputy Vladimir Antyufeyev
Ravil Khalikov
Alexander Borodai
Andrei Purgin
Preceded by Alexander Borodai
Personal details
Born Alexander Vladimirovich Zakharchenko
(1976-06-26) 26 June 1976
Donetsk, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
Political party Donetsk Republic[1]
Religion Russian Orthodox[2]
Signature
Military service
Allegiance

Novorossiya

Service/branch United Armed Forces of Novorossiya
Rank Colonel
Commands Oplot Battalion
Battles/wars War in Donbass

Alexander Vladimirovich Zakharchenko (Russian: Алекса́ндр Влади́мирович Заха́рченко; IPA: [ɐlʲɪˈksandr vlɐˈdʲimʲɪrəvʲɪtɕ zɐˈxartɕɪnkə], Ukrainian: Олександр Володимирович Захарченко; born 1976[3]) is a separatist leader,[4][5] who is the current 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.[6][7][8][9] 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.[10]

Political career

Zakharchenko was born in Donetsk on 26 June 1976. He graduated from technical school and then worked as a mine electrician.[11][12] 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.[13] On 16 May 2014 Zakharchenko was appointed 'military commandant of Donetsk'.[14] 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.[15][16]

Zakharchenko succeeded Alexander Borodai as Prime Minister on 7 August 2014.[17] Borodai then became the DPR Deputy Prime Minister.[18] In September 2014, he was the lead negotiator for the DPR at the Minsk Protocol, which agreed to a peace plan for the War in Donbass.[19]

At the November 2, 2014 Donetsk parliamentary elections, Zakharchenko won the prime ministership with 78.93% of the vote.[20]

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.”[21] He was subsequently wounded in action during the closing stages of the Battle of Debaltsevo.[22] 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."[23]

Political positions

During the parliamentary election campaign Zakharchenko told potential voters that he wanted pensions to be "higher than in Poland."[2] 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.”[24] 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."[2]

Zakharchenko is in favour of the death penalty.[25]

References

  1. ↑ "Self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic to elect its leader, lawmakers". TASS Russian News Agency. November 2, 2014. Retrieved 2014-11-02.
  2. 1 2 3 East Ukraine separatists hold vote to gain legitimacy, promise normalcy, Reuters (30 October 2014)
  3. ↑ (Russian) New Elite Donbass: losers, traitors, romance, adventurers, puppets ... Continued, Ostrov (25 June 2014)
  4. ↑ Ukraine rebel leader Zakharchenko 'wants 100,000 men'
  5. ↑ EU gets tough with Russian military leaders – and Soviet-era 'Sinatra'
  6. ↑ "Pro-Russians: Ukraine's Donetsk 'Independent'". News.sky.com. 2014-05-12. Retrieved 2014-06-12.
  7. ↑ "Премьер-министром ДНР стал россиянин Александр Бородай". Retrieved 9 February 2015.
  8. ↑ "Ukraine's bogus referendums". The Economist. May 11, 2014. Retrieved 20 May 2014.
  9. ↑ "Ukraine crisis: Donetsk leader dismisses Kremlin support claim". Financial Times. June 3, 2014. Retrieved 3 June 2014.
  10. ↑ Alexander Zakharchenko named prime minister of eastern Ukraine after 'election'
  11. ↑ "Russian resigns to make way for Ukrainian as new head of 'Donetsk People's Republic'". the Guardian. Retrieved 9 February 2015.
  12. ↑ Ukraine crisis: Key players in eastern unrest
  13. ↑ Separatists tighten grip on east Ukraine, EU agrees more sanctions on Moscow
  14. ↑ (Ukrainian) In cabinet separatists included people close to the "regionals", Ukrayinska Pravda (16 May 2014)
  15. ↑ "?????????????? ?????? - ?????? ?? ????????? 24.07.2014 1:33 ??? - ?????????????? ??????". ?????????????? ??????. Retrieved 9 February 2015.
  16. ↑ Ukraine crisis: Key players in eastern unrest BBC, 28 August 2014
  17. ↑ "August 7, 2014 - RT News". Retrieved 9 February 2015.
  18. ↑ (Ukrainian) Boroday tired of "prime minister", Ukrayinska Pravda (7 August 2014)
  19. ↑ "Ukraine deal with pro-Russian rebels at Minsk talks". BBC News. 19 September 2014. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
  20. ↑ "Äîíåöüê³ áîéîâèêè çà í³÷ ïîðàõóâàëè ãîëîñè: ïåðåì³ã Çàõàð÷åíêî - Óêðà¿íñüêà ïðàâäà". Óêðà¿íñüêà ïðàâäà. Retrieved 9 February 2015.
  21. ↑ Ukraine ceasefire agreed at Belarus talks
  22. ↑ "Ukraine Rebels Celebrate Their Taking of Debaltseve". The New York Times. 2015-02-23. Retrieved 2015-02-24.
  23. ↑ Shamanska, Anna (27 January 2016). "Separatist Leader Admits To Razing Ukrainian Village, Hails 'Good' Soviet Ideology". Radio Free Europe.
  24. ↑ Donetsk People’s Republic campaign reveals shambolic tendencies, Financial Times (23 October 2014)
  25. ↑ (Ukrainian) The leader of the militants, "DNR" justifies the death penalty, Ukrayinska Pravda (25 February 2016)

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