A pro-Russian separatist leader was sworn in on Tuesday as the head of a self-proclaimed ‘people’s republic’ in eastern Ukraine in a ceremony that worsened a standoff with Russia.
Alexander Zakharchenko, who was elected in a rogue vote on Sunday that was denounced as a “farce” by Kiev and illegitimate by the West, took the oath to “honestly serve the interests of the people of the Donetsk People’s Republic and conscientiously fulfill my duties.”
Before the ceremony, which took place in a drama theater in Donetsk, a big industrial city and the separatists’ stronghold, another separatist figure, Andrei Purgin, said: “We are starting a history with this inauguration and what happens today will be repeated. We are laying down the traditions of the Republic.”
