Editing Alexander Zakharchenko (section)

=== Human rights abuses ===
During the War in Donbass there were many cases of forced disappearances in the Donetsk People's Republic. Zakharchenko said that his forces detained up to five "Ukrainian subversives" every day. It was estimated that about 632 people were under illegal detention by separatist forces by 11 December 2014. Freelance journalist Stanislav Aseyev was abducted on 2 June 2017. At first, the ''de facto'' DNR government denied knowing his whereabouts, but on 16 July, an agent of the DNR's Ministry of State Security confirmed that Aseyev was in their custody and that he is suspected of espionage. Independent media is not allowed to report from the DNR-controlled territory. Amnesty International has demanded Zakharchenko to release Aseyev, something he did not comply.