The murder of Alexander Zakharchenko, the leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) is "regrettable," and Italy is ready to join the probe if necessary, Italian Ambassador in Russia Pasquale Terracciano said on Friday.
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 01st September, 2018) The murder of Alexander Zakharchenko, the leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) is "regrettable," and Italy is ready to join the probe if necessary, Italian Ambassador in Russia Pasquale Terracciano said on Friday.
"What happened in Donetsk is regrettable. If the European Union decides to investigate the incident, Italy will join, of course. However, Italy presides in the [the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe] OSCE, which, probably, can do more to find out the truth," the ambassador said at a lecture in the Russian Presidential academy of National Economy.
Zakharchenko was killed in a bomb blast in the cafe Separ in downtown Donetsk on Friday. DPR Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Timofeev, who accompanied Zakharchenko, is in a grave condition in a hospital. According to the DPR Emergencies Ministry, two people were killed and 11 more were injured by the blast.
The Russian Foreign Ministry and DPR officials said that Kiev was behind the assassination. The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), in its turn, said it was not involved in the murder.
