Deputy Prime Minister of the Unrecognized Donetsk Republic: “There are methods for reconciliation. But this is not today's reality "

The head of the DPR Alexander Zakharchenko on the morning of January 24 told the cameras that the attack on Mariupol had already begun. Half an hour later, the shelling hit Mariupol. How can you explain this coincidence? I have no information about the attack on Mariupol and there is no understanding that such an offensive could be called. I'll ask you about something else. Why do not the daily shelling of Donetsk and the death of people in our territory do not lead to such a surge of interest? And how did Mariupol fired at - did they all stand on their ears? This is blasphemy.

Why did the shelling of Mariupol occur right now, after some lull and truce, which was thinly observed by both sides? About the lull in front of Mariopol is complete nonsense. The escalation of hostilities took place on January 7-8. And recently she went to her peak. If, until January, the clashes between us and Ukrainians were 4-5 per day, now there are many of them per day. There are many reasons for the resumption of hostilities, but the main thing is that there is no party of the world in Ukraine. They want to solve everything with armed path.

Is it true to say that since the beginning of January, the militias are more actively advancing on the front, and the Ukrainian army only defends? Wrong!

But Ukrainians do not come. Do not come. They fight people differently: they turned off Novoazovsk gas.

But you knocked out a Ukrainian army from the Donetsk airport in January? The airport in Donetsk is a dominant height within the city. There are 9-story buildings next to him. Shooting from the airport at the militias, you cannot help but get to residential buildings! Shells will sew the buildings through with people. Airport for Ukraine is just a political fetish. A place that brought dozens and hundreds of deaths! Any shot from there brought death to the city, explosions of minibuses, destroyed stops. The whole city was fired from the airport. This is an amazing bridgehead for the execution of Donetsk, and we had to deprive him of his Ukrainians. Now, however, it has become simpler. Ukrainians are crushed from Donetsk. In fact, Donetsk himself has not heard the cannonade for several days.

Why is Mariupol strategically important for the DPR? Mariupol is a supporting point of Ukraine, from where it comes to us. Therefore, this is an important point for us. Without Mariupol, Ukraine would be much harder. Kyiv pretends that we have only two small parts of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions, and most of the infrastructure, industry and everything else are in Mariupol. Mariupol is a place of rest, rotation, the accumulation of their strength. There is a huge number of National Guard battalions. Of course, this is the point that is important to Ukraine and interferes with us. This is a very large city with two powerful factories, a huge port with access to the Black Sea. (Mariupol stands on the Sea of ​​Azov, but the capture of Mariupol opens the way to the Black Sea. - NT). Therefore, it is important for us.

And so he should be part of the DPR? The DPR needs the composition of the entire territory of the Donetsk region, where the Ukrainian authorities are now developing hundreds of thousands of cases against the local population! There are our people who are now mocking.

The DPR will try to break through the corridor to the Crimea? I am not engaged in military operations. But I assure: Ukraine is on the verge of collapse. There is also early feudal fragmentation! Therefore, I will not say whether it is possible for us to reach Crimea or impossible. Perhaps soon Ukraine itself will crumble, and the territory will become free to the Crimea.

Is it possible now to negotiate peace or the window slammed shut? There are methods for reconciliation. But this is not today's reality. Because our opponents are not interested in this.

Photo: Mikhail Postuev/ITAR-TASS