Ukraine peace plan on ice after pro-Russian rebel leader is killed in cafe bombing
Alexander Zakharchenko is the latest in a series of separatist leaders to have been assassinated during the ongoing conflict in eastern Ukraine, where more than 10,000 people have died
Russia has ruled out any rapid progress in peace talks for eastern Ukraine after pro-Russian separatist leader Alexander Zakharchenko was killed in a bomb explosion.
Zakharchenko, 42, was a native of the Donetsk region who led the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic in an armed rebellion against the Ukrainian state for the past four years.
He was killed in the regional capital Friday at a cafe in the Donetsk city centre, becoming the four-year conflict’s most prominent victim from the Moscow-backed side.
His bodyguard also died and 12 more people were injured.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Saturday that the attack was “Ukraine’s provocation … obviously aimed at derailing the implementation of the Minsk agreements,” referring to the 2015 deals aimed at resolving the Ukraine conflict.
The fighting in the country’s two easternmost regions, Donetsk and Luhansk, erupted four years ago in response to Ukraine ousting its pro-Russian president in a pivot to the West. More than 10,000 people have since died in the conflict.
