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Russia launches investigation into Zakharchenko’s death on international terrorism charges

The investigation was launched into the suspected "act of international terrorism, which resulted in a person’s death"

© Artyom Geodakyan/TASS

MOSCOW, September 1. /TASS/. The Russian Investigative Committee launched a criminal case on charges of international terrorism following Friday’s blast in Donetsk that killed Alexander Zakharchenko, the head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), a committee spokesperson said.

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"Following the August 31 blast in a Donetsk cafe, which left DPR head Zakharchenko dead, while the republic’s tax minister Timofeyev and an unidentified young woman were injured, the Russian Investigative Committee has launched a criminal case," Russian Investigative Committee spokesperson Svetlana Petrenko said.

She added that the investigation was launched into the suspected "act of international terrorism, which resulted in a person’s death."

The spokesperson added that investigative procedures will be carried out in line with norms of the Russian and international law.

She also said that the Russian Investigative Committee was ready to assist Donetsk law-enforcement agencies in their investigation.

"Based on its experience of international investigation of terror attacks, the Investigative Committee of Russia is ready to render all possible assistance to law-enforcement agencies of the Donetsk People’s Republic," Petrenko said.

Alexander Zakharchenko, who had been Prime Minister of the DPR since 2014, died in an explosion in downtown Donetsk on Friday. He was 42 years old. The blast left two people dead and nine injured, including DPR minister of taxes and duties, Alexander Timofeyev, and the head of a local youth organization, Natalya Volkova. Denis Pushilin, the speaker of the DPR legislature, described the blast as "a yet another act of aggression on the part of Ukraine.".

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