War-cafe bombing kills Ukrainian separatist leader
MOSCOW — A blast in a warthemed cafe in eastern Ukraine on Friday killed the most prominent leader of the Russia-backed separatists who have fought Ukrainian forces since 2014, rebel officials said.
The death of Alexander Zakharchenko, prime minister of the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic, underlined the dismal prospects for resolving the conflict that has killed more than 10,000 people.
Rebel and Russian authorities blamed the Ukrainian government, with some suggesting that the United States had a role, while a top Ukrainian security official said the blast was likely the result of the separatists’ factional infighting or an operation by Russian special forces.
Deputy rebel military commander Eduard Basurin said the explosion in the region’s capital of Donetsk was caused by a bomb planted in the restaurant, which was named “Separ” in honor of the separatists and decorated with camouflage netting hanging from the eaves.
Seriously injured in the blast was Alexander Timofeev, the revenues and taxes minister for the separatists, according to the rebels’ DAN news agency.
The Donetsk People’s Republic, along with a separatist republic in neighboring Luhansk, has fought Ukrainian forces since 2014, the same year Zakharchenko became the DPR’S prime minister. More than 10,000 people have died in the conflict.
Russian President Vladimir Putin lauded Zakharchenko, who was
42, as “a true people’s leader” and promised Donetsk residents that “Russia always will be with you.”