According to Ukrainian sources, there is currently no trace of separatist leader Denis Puschilin and the pro-Russian mayor of Mariupol. It is rumored that both have fled to Russia. Puschilin denies the information in a telegram video.
According to the US think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW), there is evidence that Russian-backed separatists have left Ukraine. It is not known where the head of the self-proclaimed “Donetsk People’s Republic” (DNR), Denis Puschilin, and the appointed pro-Russian mayor of Mariupol, Konstantin Ivashchenko, are currently staying. According to Ukrainian reports cited by the ISW, neither of them took part in a military parade in Mariupol on Sunday. According to the sources, Pushilin was injured while visiting the town of Lyman, reports Ukraine’s state news agency Ukrinfrom. The information cannot be independently verified.
Puschilin and Ivashchenko last performed together last Friday in Mariupol. Photos from the Russian state agency Tass show the two at the inauguration of new residential buildings. A day later Puschilin published a video on Telegram showing him in a vehicle. In the short clip, the 41-year-old mentions the “difficult situation” in Lyman and other contested locations. Despite the circumstances, he will continue to be in touch with local authorities. “There is a lot more information, but I won’t publish it until a little later,” says Puschilin.
On Sunday, the head of the DNR released another video showing him at night in the deserted center of Donetsk. In his speech, he urges the population not to fall for Ukrainian disinformation campaigns. He describes reports about his alleged flight to Russia as false. It is unclear when the videos were recorded.
Born in Donbass, Pushilin has been head of the self-proclaimed “Donetsk People’s Republic” since September 2015. He previously worked in the advertising industry. He is on the EU sanctions list. Ivashchenko was a city deputy in Mariupol several times before the war. In early April, the separatists appointed him mayor of the city. At the end of August, Russian media reported an attempted attack on the 58-year-old. Ivashchenko was not injured when a bomb exploded, the RIA Novosti news agency reported.
Mariupol was finally under Russian control in May after weeks of fighting. That was when the last of the Ukrainian fighters surrendered, who for weeks had put up fierce resistance to the Russian siege of the city in the huge Azov steelworks.
