Police block a road on August 31, 2018, in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, after Alexander Zakharchenko, the leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DNR), was killed in a bomb blast. (AFP PHOTO)
MOSCOW, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- The Russian authorities on Friday condemned the killing of Alexander Zakharchenko, leader of the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, which Moscow sees as a "terrorist act."
The leader of the independence-seeking insurgents in Donetsk, part of Ukraine's Donbas region, was reportedly killed in an explosion earlier on Friday, which was later confirmed by the Security Service of Ukraine.
"It is already clear that the purpose of the terrorist act is to disrupt the process of peaceful political settlement of the situation in Donbas and the implementation of the Minsk agreements," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The conflict in Donbas started in April 2014, after government forces launched offensives to regain control of the cities and towns seized by armed groups which declared independence from Kiev.
The Minsk agreements, designed to end the conflict in Donbas peacefully, were reached in September 2014 and February 2015.Russian President Vladimir Putin offered his condolences to Zakharchenko's relatives and friends, saying that he hopes the organizers and executors of the assassination will get the punishment they deserve.
"Those who choose the path of terror, violence and intimidation do not wish to seek a peaceful and political solution to the conflict or conduct a real dialogue with inhabitants of the southeast, but make a dangerous bet on destabilizing the situation and then to put the people of Donbas on their knees. This will not work," Putin said.
Russia's Investigative Committee said that it would help conduct investigations aimed at establishing all the circumstances of the incident and provide all possible assistance to Donetsk's law enforcement agencies based on "existing international experiences in the investigation of terrorist acts."
