The mystery of the murder of the head of the DPR Alexander Zakharchenko: “He was non-systemic”

Five years ago, the head of the DNR, Alexander Zakharchenko, died. He was blown up in his favorite cafe “Separ” on August 31, 2018. Yesterday was supposed to take place, but the trial of those accused of complicity in his murder did not take place. But, since the four defendants were not taken from the pre-trial detention center to Rostov, the meeting was postponed. It was not possible to mark the anniversary of death by the beginning of a high-profile process. We tried to find out why, and at the same time remember the working guy Sasha Zakharchenko, who rose from a simple miner to stellar heights.

The investigation of this resonant case lasted exactly five years. Day to day, literally. Why so long? After all, the main person involved, Alexander Pogorelov, was detained in hot pursuit, then, in September 2018, he gave a confession to the whole country under the camera turned on, telling how he agreed to liquidate Alexander Zakharchenko for five million rubles on the instructions of the SBU.

As follows from the materials of the investigation, this person could also be involved in the killings of the well-known commanders of the Motorola and Givi militia.

Arsen Pavlov, call sign “Motorola”, was blown up in an elevator in the fall of 2016, Mikhail Tolstykh (“Givi”) was fired at in his office in the winter of 2017, Bati, as Donetsk voters affectionately called Zakharchenko, died on the last day of summer 2018 th year. And also as a result of the explosion. A bomb with a capacity of 1.5 kg in TNT equivalent was planted behind the ceiling of the vestibule in Separ. From the head of Zakharchenko to her was only 40 centimeters.

The criminals filled the explosives with metal balls to increase the power of destruction, and set it into action at the right time. There are no other options: they perfectly calculated the time, watching Zakharchenko’s arrival from somewhere at close range.

“An explosive device with remote activation via a phone or a video camera simply would not allow an explosion with such jewelry accuracy. Especially in the conditions of Donetsk, where there are eternal problems with cellular communications. And for the performers, every second was important. The explosion was narrowly targeted. The people who were next to Zakharchenko survived. 1–1.5 seconds earlier or later, and he would also be alive, ”the investigators who worked on the case told me five years ago.

You can’t just go through and lay explosives in the ceiling – this takes time and access to the cafe. The involvement of those who served the security of Zakharchenko and the owners of the institution has not been proven. This version was immediately abandoned. Also, a number of other possible reasons for the elimination of Zakharchenko were not considered, including the fact that he could not have been the target of a terrorist attack at all. And, for example, his former right hand Alexander Timofeev “Tashkent”, seriously wounded, and soon put in jail and convicted by a Russian court for fraud. It could be some kind of economic showdown. Zakharchenko was an enemy for many, he was a non-systemic and self-willed person, that autumn he was going to run for new elections.

According to his confession, Pogorelov was a universal agent and had cooperated with the SBU since 2014. He regularly transmitted information about the deployment of military units of the DPR and even once helped a member of the armed forces of Ukraine to escape from captivity.

Pogorelov tried to blow up Zakharchenko for the first time, as he explained during interrogation, in the toilet of another Donetsk restaurant – Pushkin, for which he arranged a photo session with models there, and then mined the washbasin. But the attack failed, and the bomb itself was discovered much later and by accident.

As a result, Alexander Pogorelov is accused of preparing for espionage, espionage, encroachment on the life of a statesman or public figure, training for the purpose of carrying out terrorist activities, illegal acquisition of explosive devices, attempted participation in a terrorist community and committing two terrorist attacks …

Personally, I have questions. If only because the life and death of a simple guy Alexander Zakharchenko, I was closely engaged five years ago. And I remember a lot of things that no one else remembers. The commanders of the first wave, who are no longer alive, ideological and fearless. They didn’t always do the right thing, but they believed in what they were doing.

I’m calling Donetsk. The inspirers of the Russian spring, of which there are only one or two left, the militias. I ask how they feel about the ongoing trial of the murderers of Zakhar.

I interviewed about ten people, not a single one was aware at all that some kind of investigation was going on, that a trial was beginning. And they don’t know about such a universal spy as Pogorelov and Co.

No, not surprising, of course. Nevertheless, so much time has passed, they could have forgotten … Real life is very different from the scenarios of Hollywood films.

Ekaterina SAZHNEVA