Ten naïve questions about life in Donetsk

Editor of Vgorode-Donetsk Alina Balaban on how the events in the east are reflected on the life of regular Donetsk citizens. 

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Refugees from Donbas as seen by the volunteers

Recently, Facebook posts have become more frequent about the fact that those who have come from the eastern regions act somehow strangely, they are rude and dissatisfied with everything, even though they themselves have always been the least politically active citizens of Ukraine. 

Modernisation or burnt ground, what awaits Donetsk Oblast

Donetsk oblast, until recently, has been a region that developed rapidly – a good investment climate, a sport capital, socially responsible business and resonant cultural events – this is what the land was associated with in the thoughts of Ukrainians. Numerous state and nongovernment programs were planned for the following years (infrastructure projects, development of civil society, scheduled sporting competitions on a continental scale). However life has added its correctives. Already the region has decided against a number of projects. At the moment they are not talking about the development of Donetsk oblast, but simply the retention of its livelihood and at least some economical attractiveness. 

Russian terrorists preparing another stronghold in Donetsk Oblast

During the night of June 7, a convoy of six armored personnel carriers, six KAMAZ trucks, and an artillery tank crossed the Russian-Ukrainian border, reports ZN.UA, June 8, citing the commander of the Azov special battalion Yaroslav Honchar. The KAMAZ went to the city of Torez and the armored vehicles are in the city of Snizhne, where a new center of resistance to Ukrainian troops is being formed.

“Here everyone is living by prison laws”: how business is being flushed out of Donbas

Yekaterina Sergatsova, UP.Life

A small, shabby shop in the centre of Donetsk. There are practically no customers. I am greeted by the owner of the shop Petro, a smart phlegmatic middle-aged man.

“We are working more as security guards here,” he says almost in a whisper, even though there is nobody there to eavesdrop. “Recently, I have been coming here every day myself, to prevent anything from happening. They are not messing with us yet, what is the point? However, there is no point to mess with others either, but they still do it…” 

The Ukrainian MFA advised Russia to send humanitarian aid to Crimea

Alexey Ponomarev

The Ukrainian MFA advised Russia to send humanitarian aid to the Crimea instead of Lugansk and Donetsk Oblasts. This is how Ukrainian diplomats responded to the note their Russian colleagues sent earlier.

Volyn declares mourning for fallen soldiers

Ukrainian military in Volnovakha, May 22

The Ukrainian soldiers of the 51st Mechanized Brigade who died last night in the Donetsk Oblast during a battle with pro-Russian militants were from the Volyn Oblast, reports Radio Svoboda, May 22.

The permanent base of the battalion is in Volodymyr-Volynsky. The Volyn Oblast has declared two days of mourning for the fallen. Thursday, May 22, during commemorative events in the “Proshchanycia” area in Volyn, participants honored the memory not only of the UPA soldiers who died there but also of members of the Heaven’s Hundred and the fallen soldiers.

Dnipropetrovsk becoming a buffer zone with occupied Donetsk

Ihor Kolomoysky, governor of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast

The strange “referendum” on the accession of the Donets and Luhansk oblasts to the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast was organized not simply to point out the absurdity of the separatist referendums. A similar poll is also one of the tools for creating on the territories in the east not yet seized by separatism a certain buffer zone and also a springboard for future attack.

Local cultural leader killed by Donetsk militants

Kranyy Lyman coat of arms

Kharkiv Oblast police discovered the body of the missing pro-Ukrainian activist Valeriy Salo in the Hrekivskyy woods in the Luhansk Oblast, reports Radio Svoboda, May 8. Salo was the chairman of the Prosvita (Ukrainian cultural society — Ed.) center in Krasnyy Lyman in the Donetsk Oblast.

The burned car with the burned body of Valeriy Salo was found Thursday, May 8. He had been kidnapped the previous day by militants of the so-called “Donetsk People’s Republic.” The Deputy head of the Prosvita chapter of the Donetsk Oblast, Maria Oliynyk, described the event to Radio Svoboda:

Taruta explains consequences of separatism

Serhiy Taruta

The head of the Donetsk Oblast State Administration, Serhiy Taruta, urged mayors and district heads to explain the consequences of the so-called “Donetsk People’s Republic” to their constituents.

He made his comments during a meeting with mayors and heads of the district administration in the Donetsk Oblast, reports Ukrainska Pravda, April 23, citing the news outlet Ostrov.