Monument to DPR’s first leader Alexander Zakharchenko erected in Shakhtersk

SHAKHTERSK /DPR/, May 11. /TASS/. A monument to the first head of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) who tragically died in 2018 was unveiled in the town of Shakhtersk, a TASS on-site correspondent reported.

“Alexander Vladimirovich [Zakharchenko] will be remembered always, remembered as a hero,” the DPR’s current leader Denis Pushilin said. According to the father of the republic’s first leader, Vladimir Zakharchenko, his son considered Shakhtersk as the site of the formation of the DPR’s army.

The monument was unveiled in the town’s main square as part of the celebration of the Day of the Republic which the DPR marks on May 11.

Alexander Zakharchenko was one of the leaders of the protest movement in Donbass in 2014 and commanded a unit of the DPR’s People’s Militia. In August 2014, he became the chairman of the DPR’s Council of Ministers and on November 2, 2014, was elected the republic’s head. He was mortally wounded on August 31, 2018 in an explosion in downtown Donetsk. His bodyguard was also killed, while 12 people sustained wounds.