"We fulfilled Putin’s and Surkov’s will," – confession of illegal Donbas "referendum" orchestrator Alexandrov

Some of those who orchestrated the illegal "referendum" in occupied Donbas three years ago have become more frank today. These individuals openly admit that they fulfilled not so much the will of the people as the will of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his underboss in charge of the Donbas Vladislav Surkov.

As reported by Censor.NET citing Vlada.io, such a confession was made a few days ago by former head of the "Secretariat of People's Council of the Donetsk People's Republic" Alexei Alexandrov, who was actively involved in the illegal "referendum" to create the "DPR" on May 11, 2014.

Asked in the social media why Zakharchenko took power in the "DPR", Alexandrov proposed to put this question to Putin and Surkov adding that he was only fulfilling the will of the Russian leadership three years ago.

"All such questions should be put to the president of the Russian Federation, Novorossiya project overseer Vladislav Surkov. We were only fulfilling his and Vladimir Putin's will. And, as you know, you don't bring a knife to a gunfight," he said.

Alexandrov later stressed that situations in the "DPR" were resolved through violence under "might makes right" principle.

Alexey Alexandrov was an active participant in the events that took place in Donetsk in the spring of 2014. He was engaged in organizing an illegal referendum of May 11, and held senior positions in the "DPR" in 2014-2015. However, he was toppled along with another "DPR" terrorist Andrei Purgin as a result of the coup in September 2015. After that, Purgin's place in the "DPR" hierarchy was taken by Denis Pushilin.

The so-called "referendum" was held in violation of the Ukrainian Constitution in separatists-controlled areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions three years ago, on May 11, 2014. As a result, the Russian-backed separatists declared separation of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions from Ukraine which triggered full-scale hostilities in the region.

The separation of the Donbas from Ukraine was then dressed up as the will of the people living in Luhansk and Donetsk. Officials both in Russia and the "LPR"/"DPR" still follow the same rhetoric.