Prime Minister of the People's Republic of Donetsk Alexander Boroday arrived to Moscow

Prime Minister of the People’s Republic of Donetsk Alexander Boroday arrived to Moscow. His visit comes at the time of retreat of Slavyansk units led by Igor Strelkov to Donetsk and tightening of the circle of punitive action around Donetsk and Luhansk. The head of DNR talked to «Gazeta.ru» on the vertical of power in the country and consultations with Moscow, the retreat from Slavyansk and accusations thrown against Strelkov by Sergey Kurginyan.

— What will change in the People’s Republic of Donetsk after the arrival of Igor Strelkov to the capital of the republic? How will the military hierarchy be build: as vertical power under control of Strelkov or will it be some general council of commanders?

— We feel huge sorrow and regret after Slavyansk was left. It was a symbol of resistance, its heroic defense already engraved history. But from a purely military point of view keeping Slavyansk was pointless.

Strelkov is in Donetsk now and it is great both from humane and administrative point of view. Now Strelkov is our Commander-in- Chief and we will put into practice the solid vertical subordination of all power units which I had to manage before, sometimes successfully, sometimes not so. Together with Igor we can build a very effective, top-down command structure.

— What do you think about the sudden visit of Sergey Kurginyan to Donetsk and the harsh accusations he was throwing at Strelkov? Many associate Kurginyan with Vladislav Surkov and the «party of peace» in the Kremlin.

— I’m sure that’s not true. First of all, I would not associate Surkov himself with the «party of doves." This is erroneous interpretation. Secondly, I do not know why Kurguinyan has come there. To be frank, I am outraged by his words against Strelkov. Now I’m in Moscow, not in Donetsk, but if I were in Donetsk, I think my response would be quite firm. Strelkov is there now, managing things as a chief, and being in his place I would also give it back to Kurginyan. Because such statements during wartime are disruptive. And my strong advise to Sergei Ervandovich Kurginyan would be to think twice before talking such nonsense.

— The head of the battalion «Vostok» Alexander Khodakovsky is a figure not less mysterious than Kurguinyan. A former employee of the SBU, he has not allowed the nationalization of assets of oligarch Akhmetov, his men are guarding the infamous Kurginyan, he was behind the failed attacks on the Donetsk airport and frontier point «Marinovka» …

— Wait, let’s look at things more carefully. You are now mentioned points, some of them totally untrue. This is complete nonsense that Khodakovsky stood against nationalization of assets Akhmetov. He had and has nothing to do with the economical side. And he follows orders without questions. So we have no issues with Khodakovsky engaging into some extracurricular activities.

— That is, you don’t think he’s got connections with Akhmetov?

— He used to be commander of the Donetsk «Alpha», he was a member of the local elite — and of course Rinat Akhmetov knows him well. But this does not affect his performance as a DNR commander in any way. So let’s leave aside all the idle gossip.

— What about the attack at the airport — did it fail or not?

— Thing is that for quite long time we were playing according to certain rules with the Ukrainian side, and the main purpose of it was not to escalate the situation further. And roughly speaking, there were mutual surrender deals. The border check point and the airport were just those, I must admit, but our expectations were broken because the other side kept playing foul. So yes, you can call those operations failed but there was no evil plan or lack of military abilities of Khodokovskiy.

— So now the rules change?

— It is obvious that now there will be new rules.

— How exactly do you imagine the further course of the fighting? You have two regional centers — Donetsk and Lugansk. What will happen, theoretically, if Ukrainian army totally blocks the cities?

— Complete blocking of any of these cities by Ukrainian army is impossible. Ukrainian army is not able to encircle even Donetsk, with all its resources. So I do not see it as a serious threat in the future. In addition, the Ukrainian army and its resources are already terribly undermined and their morale had plummeted.

— So you are preparing for a long siege?

— We’re getting ready not so much for a siege as to show them some real action.

— To counterattack?

— Of course. The concentration of forces which was achieved after Strelkov and his squad came intact from Slavyansk (and those are seasoned fighters, and they are plenty), allows us to hope for success. When we had a an extremely stretched front line having to keep garrisons fighting simultaneously in many places it was difficult. Now this problem is solved. I think leaving Slavyansk was absolutely justified, from the military, and even from the political point of view.

— What do you think they intend to do in the Kremlin now? Many believe that Moscow does not support the idea of republics joining Russia, and instead wishes for more instability in the eastern Ukraine as a lever of pressure on Kiev, as well as for the sake of maintaining the status quo in the Crimea.

— I cannot confidently comment on the Kremlin’s plans, since I am not the one making them. But I definitely do not see there any desire to maintain instability in the so-called south-east of Ukraine. This term still exists, although, as you know, most of people in Donetsk and Lugansk hate to hear the name Ukraine. I can understand why.
Rather, I see quite opposite — the desire to contribute to the maximum stabilization. It’s another thing that the vision of stabilization by Kiev and that by the Kremlin are very different.

— Is Victor Medvedchuk entitled to represent the Republic in negotiations with Kiev? If, for example, Putin and Medvedchuk put an ultimatum tomorrow — for all your fighters to lay down arms and start negotiations with emissaries of Poroshenko, do you think such negotiations will be possible?

— Let’s take Putin and Medvedchuk apart. I mean — apart. They are two completely different people, two completely disparate political figures. In the case of Viktor Medvedchuk, he has no right to represent DNR or LNR. He is a negotiations fixer, and as such (and as a human being) I quite like him. What we really talk about here is possible resumption of the consultation process, which can result in a ceasefire.
But we will have negotiations only on the condition that the territory of the DNR and LNR is free of enemy troops. Only then the governments of republics may enter into negotiations with the official Kiev.

— Are you getting any financial or military help from Russia right now? Are there any direct tranches from Moscow to Donetsk People’s Republic?

— Of course, there are no direct tranches. This is nonsense. The whole implication of the question — is there any help?- seems a bit provocative to me. There is no Moscow’s fault in the events in DNR and LNR. They, indeed, and that is why I am here, do provide consultation and advice on resolution of the conflict. But Moscow is not one of the parties involved into the conflict and does not participate in it.

— So Moscow acts as a mediator?

— If you want to put it this way, yes. A very friendly mediator, for us.

— The same team that helped you in the Crimea, organized a referendum, helped to keep order during the referendum — they also help you in the Donbass?

— Yes, I have a small team that worked with me in the Crimea, and now we work in DNR.

— Do you personally think that the proclamation of the republic at the cost of numerous casualties on both sides was worth it? Don’t you feel you should have rather stuck to the peaceful political consultant work instead of being a head of DNR?

— You know, the profession of a political strategist is only relatively peaceful. Who would have thought that politics has such a colossal impact on people’s lives. The results can be different, and unfortunately, even as tragic as what we see today in Ukraine.
And frankly speaking I never imagined that the war will be unleashed on such a scale and with such brutality. Hoped that this can be prevented.
Even now I still hope that we can do something and stop the victims count from growing, stop these war deaths, and end it as soon as possible. This is the aim, the reason why I work.
To stop the civil war, the bloodshed between Slavs, fighting between people of the same blood. But this does not mean that the massacre must end on the terms given by Kiev or Kolomoyskiy. We did not start it. In fact, I say quite openly that this massacre was started by mister Kolomoyskiy and his ilk.

— That is, your conditions do not change? You expect a full ceasefire and will start a dialogue only after the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the territory of the republics?

— Let’s just say, the dialogue can be also in the format of consultation. But the negotiations, full negotiations that would lead us to peace are only possible, of course, after the fulfillment of these conditions. Peace through surrender is unacceptable to us under any circumstances. Peace by agreement is possible and desirable. We want Kiev to recognize us as belligerent, and it should be a document, involving independent states of international law.