MOSCOW, August 7 (RIA Novosti) — The prime minister of Donetsk People’s Republic, Alexander Boroday, announced his resignation Thursday.
«I came here as a crisis manager, a startuper if you wish. A lot was done in the past days, and DPR has proven itself as a state. Now I cede my place to a respected field commander, my friend Alexander Zakharchenko," Boroday said.
A Moscow-native, Boroday said the leader of the DPR must be a Donetsk native, as Zakharchenko, who has also been an outspoken leader of a unit of independence supporters called Oplot.
Boroday served as the prime minister of the self-proclaimed republic since May 16. He was appointed following a referendum on the status of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, which showed the majority of the voters supported the regions' sovereignty.
Prior top holding the post, Boroday served as an adviser to Crimea's Prime Minister Sergei Aksyonov since the former autonomous republic reunited with Russia in March.
Boroday will now serve as deputy prime minister and chief adviser to his successor.
The fighting in eastern Ukraine broke out in mid-April, when, following a February 22 coup, the newly-instated Ukrainian government launched a military operation to suppress independence supporters, who have refused to acknowledge the new authorities. According to the latest UN report, the conflict has claimed the lives of more than 1,100 civilians since then, with nearly 3,500 injured.
Moscow has repeatedly condemned Kiev’s "war against its own people" and urged an immediate stop to the punitive operation, advocating a peaceful resolution to the crisis.
