Self-proclaimed Prime Minister of the pro-Russian separatist 'Donetsk People's Republic' Igor Strelkov has been badly wounded, agency says.
Defense minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DNR) Igor Girkin (known as "Strelkov") has been badly wounded and is in serious condition, the Donetsk-based news agency Novorossiya said on Wednesday.
“Igor Strelkov is badly wounded. We were told so by a source in the Novorossiya [common reference to the Donetsk and Luhansk self-proclaimed republics] leadership. He is in grave condition,” the agency said.
DNR Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Purgin could not confirm or deny this information. He told ITAR-TASS that Strelkov had been in the area of intensive fighting lately.
“I have no precise information, but this is likely to be true. As far as I know, he was not in Donetsk but in the area of Shakhtersk, Torez and Snezhnoye where intensive fighting is going on,” Purgin told ITAR-TASS by telephone.
The condition of Igor Strelkov, the so-called defense minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DNR) in eastern Ukraine, still remain unclear.
The separatist website novoroinform.com posted a brief message on August 13 saying there was information Strelkov had been badly wounded but the report did not say where or when this happened and added, "We would be happy if the information provided turns out to be wrong or exaggerated."
Officials connected with the DNR gave different accounts.
Denis Pushilin posted a video on YouTube in which he said he had heard reports Strelkov was seriously wounded but could not confirm that information yet.
Pushilin was the self-styled chairman of the DNR's supreme council but he resigned in mid-July and is believed to be in Russia.
Spokesman for the DNR Defense Ministry Vyacheslav Brig dismissed the reports as "nonsense" and said the reports were a deliberate attempt at disinformation.
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