World View: Leader of Russian Forces in Eastern Ukraine Assassinated

This morning’s key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com

• Alexander Zakharchenko, leader of Russian forces in eastern Ukraine, is assassinated
• Alexander Zakharchenko was increasingly annoying to his masters in Moscow

Alexander Zakharchenko, leader of Russian forces in eastern Ukraine, is assassinated

Alexander Zakharchenko (Getty)

Alexander Zakharchenko, leader of the Russian troops in eastern Ukraine and prime minister of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), was killed on Friday in a terrorist bomb blast at a local restaurant. The bomb had been deliberately planted in the restaurant, the Separ in central Donetsk, frequented often by Zakharchenko.

Russia’s defense ministry initially blamed the bombing directly on Ukraine, but this accusation was not repeated as a DPR official announced that the suspects had already been detained within Donetsk itself. However, Ukraine Security Services and the United States were still blamed for organizing the attack. In view of the attack, a state of emergency was declared, and the borders were closed.

It is worthwhile to provide a brief catalog of Russian statements about the war in Ukraine, almost all of which have been provable lies. The war in Ukraine began in 2014 when Russian troops invaded eastern Ukraine. Russia always denied that there were Russian army troops in Ukraine, and when it was proven there were, the Russians claimed that they were just “volunteers.” That also turned out to be disinformation, as 80 percent of Russia’s army is a volunteer army. America has an all-volunteer army. So saying that Russian troops in Ukraine are “volunteers” is like saying that America’s troops in Iraq and Afghanistan are “volunteers.”

In July 2014, the Russians in eastern Ukraine shot down Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 passenger plane with a Russian Buk 9M38 missile that was transported by a Volvo truck from Russia, as was confirmed in 2015 by a Dutch report following a lengthy investigation. Russia made one moronic claim after another, everything from the claim that MH17 fell out of the sky by itself to a claim that the U.S. shot down MH17 to embarrass Putin.

After Putin’s Russian forces invaded Crimea, Putin denied that there were Russian troops in Crimea, but later he awarded a medal to the leaders of the successful invasion. Putin said there were no plans to annex Crimea, but then Russia annexed Crimea soon after.

So the war in east Ukraine is being fought by Russian troops – “volunteers” – supplied with heavy Russian weapons, including tanks. Alexander Zakharchenko web site and Sputnik News (Moscow) and BBC and Sputnik News

Alexander Zakharchenko was increasingly annoying to his masters in Moscow

Although the Russian government reflexively blamed Ukraine and the United States for the explosion, there are plenty of reasons to look elsewhere for a culprit, especially Moscow.

Zakharchenko was said to have as many lives as a cat because he survived numerous assassination attempts. Friday’s successful attack was believed to be the ninth assassination attempt, which meant that on Friday he used up the last of his nine lives.

According to numerous analysts, Zakharchenko was a major annoyance to his masters in Moscow and was also facing dissension within his officers in Donetsk, people who would like to replace him. He repeatedly declared that he would attack Kiev and the DPR would replace the government of Ukraine, but he received no backing from Moscow. In January 2015, he announced a large-scale offensive aimed at capturing the strategic port city of Mariupol. But after receiving a phone call from Moscow, he gave a rushed press conference canceling the operation.

According to Igor Girkin, a former commander in eastern Ukraine, Zakharchenko had many enemies: “He could have been taken out because of criminal schemes or maybe his Kremlin curators grew tired of him or the Ukrainians may have done it. He was a problem for everyone.”

Another analyst, Michael Bociurkiw, a global affairs analyst and former spokesman for the Organization of Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), said: “This looks like an internal operation because for the past few weeks and months, Zakharchenko has been critical of some of his colleagues and deputies in the so-called DPR parliament. So, I think the writing was on the wall for him.”

In February 2015 in Minsk, Belarus, negotiators reached a ceasefire agreement. The negotiators were Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, Ukraine’s leader Petro Poroshenko, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and France’s President François Hollande.

It was noteworthy that the negotiations did not include Zakharchenko or any east Ukraine Russian leader, whereas Putin’s presence made it clear that he was in charge of the Russians in east Ukraine.

The so-called “Minsk Agreement” did not bring about a ceasefire. Since then, there has low-level violence almost every day, and people are being killed almost every day. Analysts are expressing concern that the assassination of Zakharchenko will destabilize the region, and be the final end of the Minsk agreement. Al Jazeera and RFE/RL and Washington Examiner

Related Articles:

• Russia’s actions in Sea of Azov raise fears of another invasion of Ukraine (07-Jul-2018)
• Russians ignore Ukraine ‘ceasefire’ as 5,000 Ukrainian troops are trapped (18-Feb-2015)
• Dutch report confirms that Russian missile shot down airliner over Ukraine (14-Oct-2015)
• BBC reporters attacked by Russian thugs after finding evidence of new Ukraine invasion (19-Sep-2014)
• Russia’s sophisticated disinformation campaign over Ukraine (15-Aug-2014)

KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Ukraine, Donetsk, Alexander Zakharchenko, Donetsk People’s Republic, DPR, Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, Buk 9M38 missile, Crimea, Igor Girkin, Michael Bociurkiw, Organization of Security and Co-operation in Europe, OSCE, Minsk agreement
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