Donetsk flag
© Sputnik / Irina Gerashchenko


The Russian Foreign Ministry released an official statement commenting on the assasination of the head of the Donetsk People's Republic Alexander Zakharchenko in the city of Donetsk on August 31 (source):
Tragic news from Donetsk - Head of the Donetsk People's Republic Alexander Zakharchenko was killed in a terrorist attack.

We express our condolences to Alexander Zakharchenko's friends and family and wish prompt recovery to the wounded and injured in the blast, and we wish Donbass residents courage and stamina.

We are confident that an investigation will be held soon and that all the circumstances of that crime will be established and the perpetrators and their sponsors will be identified.

However, it is clear that the goal of the terrorist attack was to derail the process of peaceful political settlement in Donbass and the implementation of the Minsk Agreements. It looks especially cynical against the backdrop of the recently announced "back-to-school" ceasefire. The assassination of one of the signatories of the Minsk Package of Measures runs along Kiev's logic of a military solution to the internal Ukrainian crisis. Such actions carry the serious risk of destabilising the situation in southeast Ukraine.

We call on Kiev to stop relying on terrorism to resolve Ukraine's domestic issues. We hope that responsible Ukrainian politicians will find the strength to stop the party of war and prevent the escalation of the confrontation in Donbass.