Both soldiers and civilians tell me Russian weapons are definitely here; this is what is destroying frontline towns and villages. Unexploded Russian shells are sticking out of the pavement and from the roofs of half-demolished buildings. One of the Donetsk refugees told me rebel forces often fire Grad rockets right from the housing districts of the town. By the time the return fire comes in, the rebels are already gone, and the next day the Russian media publishes another report about “the Ukrainian army shooting at peaceful civilians in Donbass”.
Remember how Vladimir Putin claimed publically he would use noncombatants as human shields?
This is what is happening with the Russian regular army. Local residents, army officers and the Intelligence claim Donetsk and Luhansk were visited by the same “little green men” as was Crimea some time earlier.
It is rumored that Donetsk and Luhansk will soon join the Russian Federation by means of a referendum; this would be a viable political scenario.
Not just professional Kremlin spies, snipers and instructors fight on the rebels’ side. Ukrainian forces regularly capture Russian soldiers without any insignia on their uniforms. Mr. Putin claims, they “got lost” trying to find their units in the Tambov region. At least this is what I was told by Ukrainian patriots.
Leaving the war zone, we were stopped by Ukrainian counterintelligence officers driving a modern armored vehicle. Once they are sure we do not pose any danger, they let us back into Mariupol.
Mariupol’s defense against Russia
On May 9th, 2014 a group of rebels attacked Mariupol in an attempt to put the local administration under their control. The militia, as the pro-Russian forces are called, were going to overtake Mariupol in one sweep after Luhansk and Donetsk. There was a foiled attempt to attack the city administration building and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, but the police and volunteers fought them off and drove them out of town. Dozens of people lost their lives in that battle. Both buildings still stand deserted.
Chaplain Gennadiy Mokhnenko says the attackers were “drug users and bandits with a criminal past”. According to him, as well as local people and refugees from Donetsk, in cities where power was seized by pro-Russian forces, leading posts were taken by “scoundrels and marginals” who did not find a place for themselves under Yanukovich or the current Ukrainian administration.
“Criminals and bandits, pumped-up with drugs, took weapons and started wrecking our town,” says Mokhnenko. “They robbed banks and stores, set the police headquarters on fire, and tried to take power”.
Despite victory over the separatists, today’s Mariupol stays on alert for possible attacks from sea or land. Daily “fireworks” on the frontline are taken in stride.
They say the country has not seen such a rise of patriotism since it gained independence. Everywhere, including the war zone, you can see Ukrainian flags, or OUN (Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists) flags in Western Ukraine. Deserted buildings often bear the famous slogan: “Putin is a dick”.
Life in the Donetsk Republic
Unfortunately, this trip I could not get into the territory of the unrecognized Donetsk Republic. During my stay in the “Anti-terrorist operation zone”, President Poroshenko on advice from Intelligence stopped all railway and vehicle traffic to Donetsk and Luhansk. He did it after the militiamen found and published proof of weapons and coal smuggling happening with Poroshenko’s approval.
One of the Donetsk refugees told me about the grim future the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic is facing. According to him, all the more promising people have left the region fleeing from the war and the marauders.
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According to him, most of those who stayed on the other side of the border have resorted to drugs and Russian pseudo-patriotism. Almost all factories and stores in Donetsk are shut down because half of the population has fled. The rest have no option other than to take up arms and fight for the pro-Russian administration.
A former Protestant pastor did not even have time to say goodbye to his parishioners before leaving Donetsk. The refugees avoid sharing their names or posing for photos; they say they do not want to add risk to their friends who stayed on the other side of the border.
At the Donetsk Republic border we saw a mile-long line of people who were bringing eggs, meat, milk and other food from Mariupol.
“They boast about freeing their town from Bandera’s men, but they come to us to buy food”, commented one of the local residents.
Trading on the blood of their own people
I was told by an instructor from the Tornado battalion, Poroshenko’s men shamelessly trade coal and even weapons with the Donetsk Republic. Train cars loaded with the fossil fuel from the occupied mines keep rolling from the ATO area towards Kiev. In return, the defenders of Donbass are supplied with weapons and ammunition that are used against Poroshenko’s own citizens.
