LUHANSK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 01st September, 2018) Acting head of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) Leonid Pasechnik expressed on Friday his grief and condolences over the assassination of Alexander Zakharchenko, the leader of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR).
Zakharchenko was killed when an explosion occurred in the Separ cafe in downtown Donetsk earlier in the day. The DPR authorities said the Ukrainian Security Service was behind the attack.
"This terror act is a vivid confirmation that terrorists stop at nothing in their inhuman, fierce struggle against freedom and independence. Alexander Zakharchenko was a man whose willpower, courage and love for his homeland were so great that he was ready to sacrifice himself at any moment for the sake of peace and independence of his people, his country ... My deepest condolences to the family of Alexander Zakharchenko and all of Donbas," Pasechnik said.
In 2014, the Ukrainian army started an offensive against Donbas militias who refused to recognize the newly-formed government. The conflict between the LPR and the DPR, on one side, and the Kiev forces, on the other, has claimed over 10,000 lives according to UN figures and is still ongoing.
Efforts to stabilize the situation in eastern Ukraine have been made by the Normandy Four group comprising Russia, Ukraine, France, and Germany. The group brokered the Minsk peace accords in 2015 in a bid to end hostilities in the region. However, the warring parties have so far failed to observe the ceasefire.
