You're reading: Strelkov: Sloviansk ‘people’s mayor’ Ponomarev dismissed

The "people's mayor of Sloviansk," Vyacheslav Ponomarev, has been dismissed, the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic's defense minister, Ihor Strelkov, said on Facebook on Tuesday.

“The so-called people’s mayor Ponomarev has been dismissed for engaging in activities incompatible with the goals and tasks of the civil administration. I cannot provide further details for now,” he writes.

Earlier on Tuesday, the press service of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic denied reports about Ponomarev’s arrest.

Some media said on Tuesday morning that Ponomarev had been dismissed as “people’s mayor” of Sloviansk. Reports about his arrest, citing a representative of local unlawful armed groups, emerged later.