DONETSK: Two pro-Russian separatists were confirmed as leaders in controversial elections in eastern Ukraine on Sunday — one a rebel chief who highlights his status as a miner’s son and the other a fan of Communist icon Vladimir Lenin.
Alexander Zakharchenko, who commands rebels fighting Ukrainian government forces in the mining and industrial town of Donetsk, faced no real opposition, taking 81 percent of the vote according to rebel election officials.
He becomes the first president of the unrecognised Donetsk People’s Republic. His ambition, he said in a pre-vote meeting with students, “is to build a new state that will become legitimate …read more
Source: Free Malaysia Today