De-escalation or further rise in tensions? This week will see another important appointment in the series of tensions between Russia and the West. Vladimir Putin, alone to decide, must take a position on the American response to his demands. In Russia, public opinion is not very interested in the subject. In the Belgorod region, on the other hand, the last major Russian city before the border and the city of Kharkiv in Ukraine, diplomatic tensions weigh heavily. But no one wants to believe in a conflict.
From our correspondent in Moscow,
These snowy plains dotted with birches are already marked by the memory of other conflicts, the Second World War in particular with war memorials in almost every village along the border. Everywhere also churches. In recent years they have sprung up like mushrooms, and on arrival at the airport, the first thing you see is a chapel. It is the work of the governor of the region for thirty years, a fervent admirer of Vladimir Putin.
Bellicose attitudes that leave you perplexed
Since 2014 and the start of the conflict with Ukraine, the region has also become militarized. Seeing convoys of 15 troop and equipment transport trucks pass by on these particularly well-maintained roads or witnessing the passage of tank convoys in a station, it’s commonplace here: there are also more military bases. Vasily (editor’s note : this is the name he wanted to give himself) is one of these new soldiers stationed 150 km from Karkhiv, the first major Ukrainian city after the border. Sitting in uniform in the lobby of a hotel, he displays his certainty: his army will not invade Ukraine. For him, as for the majority of Russians, this climate is simply due to political attacks from the West, but it won’t go any further than that “. Vladimir Putin may insist that he wants written commitments not to expand NATO, Vassili takes the question very calmly from him: he assures us that he never seriously considered that Ukraine could join the Atlantic organization: “ NATOhe said, doesn’t want or need it “.
In the population of this region, this climate of international tensions is felt differently. In the villages along the border, there are many who assure that everything is calm, ” no reason to worry we repeat. “ Here we see wolves more often than soldiers “Told the resident of a border control post to the newspaper. Kommersant. Another atmosphere described by Elena (Editor’s note: alias) who lives in Belgorod and has a family home located almost on the border, where she goes regularly: ” Of course, there is anxiety. To say that everyone is relaxed and expecting nothing would be wrong. Border guards patrol our village, all along the border. There could be provocations from the Ukrainian side. At the moment there is none, but theoretically it is possible. To be honest, most of the time we laugh about it, because it is not imaginable that there is a war. Russia will never go to war with Ukraine, that’s not even a question. But our laughter is also mixed with tears, because in our village we receive Ukrainian channels. And we can clearly see how the current international situation is presented there: if people are constantly in the spirit of war, if that is constantly drummed into their brains, they inevitably begin to believe it. “.
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A state of mind far removed from diplomatic tensions
The menacing and disturbing diplomatic exchanges of recent weeks have not escaped anyone in the region. “It doesn’t make me angry, but it frankly doesn’t amuse me either. said Oleg Shevtsov. ” I have probably been accustomed for the past eight years to unreasonable actions on the Ukrainian side as well as on the Russian side having a harmful impact on my personal life, that of my friends and relatives. I’m actually tired and in a negative state of mind I would say. My two grandmothers are Ukrainian, my distant relatives live in the neighboring city of Kharkiv and this situation is quite typical for our region explains this editor of business newspapers in Belgorod.
Before 2014, like many locals, he traveled to Kharkiv to see family, friends, shop or go clubbing. ” About one in two residents of the region have Ukrainian relatives and friends he explains. ” We perceive the neighboring country as absolutely brotherly and friendly. For us, everything that is happening at the political, diplomatic and even military level is in fact a real tragedy, a tragedy that affects us all, among other things because it has become very difficult to cross the border “.
Elsewhere in Russia the link is not as strong, geographical distance obliges, but the opinion polls follow and repeat themselves: the majority of Russians say they feel close to Ukrainians and have great difficulty in projecting themselves into a conflict, with wounded and dead on each side.
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