Peace Remains Elusive in Eastern Ukraine: Kiev Continues to Butcher Donbas Civilians
Four years ago, on May 11th, 2014, the referendum for independence took place in the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics. 89% of the population of Donetsk voted "yes," as did 96% of Lugansk. Donbass had to take this measure after the coup d'état in February in Ukraine. Donetsk and Luhansk didn't accept the new authority, so an army of thousands was sent against them, including combat aircraft and heavy artillery. Since then, the people of the unrecognized republics have had to defend themselves with arms. But they believe that someday peace will come to their homes.
Our war correspondent, Alexander Sladkov, will tell us about the mood in Donbass.
Before the war, there were 900 houses in the village of Zaitsevo, now there are only 180 intact. The population has decreased twofold as people fled the war zone. 81 residents died. On the edge of the village, there are craters that smell like burned gunpowder. The soldier escorting us, whose nickname is Zhelezny, shows us just how deep they are. Zaitsevo is constantly hit with large caliber shells.
Zhelezny: "This one is today's. Here".
This is the front line. There used to be a village school here. It's in ruins. The commander here is named Andrey.
Andrey: "They bomb constantly, all day long".
We hide in the ruins of the school. We try not to show ourselves in windows. They will shoot. We try to find safe corners.
Andrey: "Don't go here, hide behind me. That's the high ground, they fire from there".
The soldiers, as Andrey showed us, know all the architectural peculiarities of these ruins. Where there are two walls, where the fire is coming from, where to get good cover.
Andrey: "This room is the most intact one. The roof is intact, here it's intact. The rest is like Pavlov's house".
The commander, Andrey, recalls the deaths of his neighbor’s children in his home city of Horlivka.
Andrey Titov, serviceman of the DNR army: "In 2015, a shell took the lives of 3 children. I used to take their oldest daughter to school with my boy. She was my son's classmate".
While we speak with Andrey, Zhelezny examines the ruins, which draws the fire of Ukrainian soldiers. A bullet flies through the window.
Zhelezny: "Isn't that a beauty? It missed".
Andrey Titov: "I condemn fascism. I mean, I don't need these new 'heroes' like Bandera, Shukhevych and others. The Galicia SS Division, which they celebrate now, my grandfathers fought against all that. One in the Pacific fleet, the other on a Katyusha. He was everywhere. They earned that victory, and I'm following in their footsteps".
We hear explosions. Andrey starts screwing the primer charge onto the grenade launcher. As evening falls, everyone starts digging in and getting ready to defend. Hear that? That's adjustment fire on our position. The soldiers go to the trenches.
"To the left. Let's go".
At night, they take guard duty shifts, fry potatoes, and drink tea. Behind the wall, in the yard, shells are exploding.
– Where's the fire coming from?
Andrey Titov: Northwest.
– Doesn't the other side see what they're shooting at?
– Maybe it does. But it doesn't matter to them. They were ordered to eliminate the people of Donbass on day 1.
Zhelezny: That's a VOG grenade.
Andrey Titov: AGS-17. Maybe not, it could be 25s.
- An adjustment. It's 5:46 AM now. The Ukrainian artillerymen fire for adjustment for now. It's the 11th of May, Republic Day, and there is fire, why?
Andrey Titov: Republic Day means that they remember us; they're thinking about us. They're still trying to stab us in the side with something. Well, it's too late, that ship has sailed. We're standing firmly on our feet, the Republic is hard at work now, producing it's goods, and we are going to defend it.
Catching a pause between explosions, we say goodbye as we leave the school ruins behind, and fast. But on the way, Zhelezny suddenly stops to pick some flowers.
– And here is a little surprise for Republic Day.
Zhelezny: Irina! We wish you a happy Republic Day. We wish you luck, peace and quiet.
Irina Dikun: Thank you. We're really looking forward to that. Irina Dikun, head of Zaitsevo administration: We want only peace, everything else we will build and rebuild ourselves. But we only need peace.
Alexander Sladkov, Pavel Vydrin, Igor Uklein, Oleg Bondarenko, Andrei Rudenko, Vesti Nedeli, Donbass.