The Donetsk People’s Republic: Four influential figures of the rebel group

NGO Human Rights Without Frontiers has given an overview of the four most influential individuals from the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic within the Ukraine Conflict.

Willy Fautré, editor-in-chief of Human Rights Without Frontiers, attempted to give an insight on the background of key actors within the DPR separatist movement.

The first Prime Minister, Alexander Borodai, is a Russian citizen from Moscow who has previously been involved in the defeat of Crimea. He withdrew from his post to give a more Ukrainian face to the insurgency. His successor, Alexander Zakharenko, had been born in Donetsk.

Zakharenko was the lead negotiator for the DPR at the Minsk Protocol. In February 2015 Zakharchenko agreed to the Minsk II peace treaty, calling it a “major victory for the Lugansk and Donetsk People’s Republics.” Originally an Orthodox-Christian, it is unclear what Zakharenko’s previous profession was. Reports vary from him being a former mine electrician, to a lawyer or businessman, depending from which side the report originates.

Zakharenko’s deputy prime minister, Vladimir Antyufeyev, was a prominent Soviet actor in police operations aiming to crush the 1990-1991 independence movement in Latvia. He subsequently contributed to the creation of the separatist Republic of Transnistria, still unrecognized by the international community, and served as its minister of state security for 20 years. The next battlefield to which he was sent was Eastern Ukraine.

Igor Girkin (Strelkov), the military chief of the self-proclaimed People's Republic of Donetsk until August 2014, was a retired military officer of both the Soviet and Russian armies. Also known as the Rifleman, he has fought in Chechnya, Transnistria and Bosnia in a Russian volunteer corps for General Ratko Mladic, who is presently on trial for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.

Fautré adds in his report: “These are just a few names of henchmen used by Moscow and targeted for sanctions by the European Union, the United States and other countries. They are among the high number of individuals who have been active in the dismemberment of the Ukrainian territory.”

The self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) were formed on 11 May 2014 on the territory of Donbass (Donetsk and Luhansk regions in Ukraine’s southeastern industrial area) after referendums that were not recognized by the Ukrainian government and the international community.

On the whole, 2.2 million people live in the Luhansk Region, and 4.3 million people reside in the Donetsk Region. The share of Russians in the population reaches 39-40%.

For the complete report, click here.

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