As tension between Russia and the West is at its height, Moscow says Ukraine is preparing to stage a provocation in the Donbass to drag Russia into war. In the self-proclaimed Republic of Donetsk, there are no signs of a resumption of fighting, but residents exhausted by tensions and years of difficult life in an internationally unrecognized territory.
A paved track that ends in the wild grass, fences, a cemetery and the golden bulbs of a church… A heavy silence only broken by the footsteps of stray dogs in the snow and, several times a day, by artillery fire. We are in the area of the old airport of Donetsk, about a kilometer from the contact line.
“ Here is the outskirts of Donetsk, explains Edouard Alexandrovitch Basurine, deputy head of the Donetsk militia. This exact place is also considered holy, because there is a convent for women. During the hot phase of the war in 2014-2015, the Ukrainian army wanted to cross this territory, through the monastery and the cemetery, bypass the airport and enter the city. There were very fierce clashes in these alleys, we fired at point-blank range at all the buildings. With tanks, combat vehicles, artillery. Shells, Grad rockets, Smertch… Everything flew here! »
Within a few tens of meters, in this area, you can find yourself within range of sniper fire. Most of the inhabitants fled. ” The climate of war is difficult for everyone because people are in constant stress and tension says Oxana, who lives in a house in a neighborhood that has never been affected by the fighting. But this 50-year-old mother describes a heavy daily life.
“ People have no freedom in any sense of the word. No freedom of movement, since now we have to go around Russia to go to Ukraine. No freedom of movement even within the borders since we have been living under curfew for years. There is no international bank, no international post, no way to receive parcels, nor to send them to different countries. What can I tell you positive? Stop recording because I’m going to have to think a long time. »
A market closes its stalls and a young fishmonger who does not mince her words also recounts her daily life. ” Here, we don’t live, we survive. He who has money is strong, he who does not is weak. The old are dying and the young have no hope. There is nothing left with us! We are neither Ukrainians nor Russians, we are nobody. If you want to have children, it’s somewhere else and certainly not here. »
All the inhabitants of Donetsk we met say it: today what they want above all is a normal life.