The fourth anniversary of the war - what Donbass lives

Фото: Depositphotos

17 April 2014 was held in Geneva, the meeting of foreign ministers of the United States, the European Union, Ukraine and Russia. Following the talks, a joint statement was adopted.

“All parties pledged to refrain from any form of violence, intimidation or provocative actions. The participants in the meeting strongly condemned and rejected all manifestations of extremism, racism and religious intolerance, including manifestations of anti-Semitism, ”says a Joint Statement published on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.

The meeting participants agreed that the “OSCE Special Monitoring Mission will play a leading role in helping the Ukrainian authorities and local communities to immediately implement these measures aimed at de-escalating the situation in the coming days.”

13 April 2014, Acting President of Ukraine, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Oleksandr Turchynov put into effect the decision of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine "On urgent measures to overcome the terrorist threat and preserve the territorial integrity of Ukraine." As they say in the Ukrainian press, this is the date when the Anti-terrorist operation in the east of the country began.

Фото: Depositphotos

About understanding - what Donbass lives

The chief editor of the Ukrainian Internet publication OstroV, which monitors the situation in the Donbas, Sergey Garmash rhetorically notes: “if Ukrainian politicians understood what Donbass lives !?”

“All de-occupation plans are oriented towards being accepted by the West. And none of the politicians is absolutely not focused on how these plans can be adopted in the Donbas. They are focused on a compromise that is unacceptable for those who are held hostage there, and those who are waiting for some kind of activism from Ukraine.

We often say that we need to fight for people, but we don’t say which people. I think it is useless to fight for people who are waiting for Putin and hate Ukraine, ”said Sergey Garmash in a comment to the Russian service of Voice of America.

According to Sergey Garmash, in the occupied territories of the east of Ukraine there remains a significant number of citizens of the country, whose support will help the Ukrainian authorities to effectively return the territories beyond their control today.

“These people will be the main agents of state restoration. It is also necessary to fight for those who left there and are now homeless in the status of temporary migrants, ”says Sergey Garmash.

Restoring peace, law, and economics, according to Sergey Garmash, are some of the requirements that are expected to be implemented in the Donbas.

“There are a lot of problems. The problem of industry - for the year after nationalization, the volume of industry fell by almost half. The problem with the environment: yesterday, the pumps were stopped at the mine “Junior Communard” in Yenakiyevo, where in 1979 an underground nuclear explosion was made. Problems of a humanitarian nature, since the majority of the population do not see themselves in these republics and would like to leave. We are facing a bit in Ukraine, but it’s all there at times stronger and, of course, puts pressure on people, ”says Sergey Garmash.

In the occupation to live, as in the "buffer zone"

Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Taras Shevchenko Institute of Political and Marketing Research Vladimir Bondarenko believes that in the occupied territories, the citizens of Ukraine live as in a buffer zone.

“They feel themselves abandoned by everyone, they are well aware that after four years they are used as a“ buffer ”in their game, like Transnistria in the situation with Moldova. In these territories, citizens of the country survive, including at the expense of Ukraine, which continues to pay social benefits and pensions, allowing them to “shuttle” - it is cheaper to buy food in Ukraine and take them to the occupied territories for sale, ”says Vladimir Bondarenko to a Russian service correspondent "Voices of America".

Vladimir Bondarenko believes that the issue of de-occupation of Donbass is hardly resolved in the near future.

“Oligarchs on both sides benefit from a situation that contributes to smuggling and other things. On the part of the authorities, on a number of issues, there is a window showing that the country is ready to take care of its citizens, but this is in words. It is profitable for the oligarchs to continue the war - this is a big business, they continue to earn money on it, you can write off everything for the war - all the expenses, all the problems, this is usually done, ”Vladimir Bondarenko notes.

In addition to problems with those who live in uncontrolled territories, according to the political scientist, the participants of the antiterrorist operation, refugees and all those who suffered from the armed conflict in the east often do not find use in peaceful life.

“Many of them go to work abroad and do not plan to return not only to their homes in the territory under their control, but also to Ukraine in general. For four years she is morally mutilated by unfulfilled promises, impoverishment, the inability to realize herself in a peaceful life, they don’t believe any of the authorities, ”emphasizes Vladimir Bondarenko.

Interpersonal communication for conflict de-escalation

Journalist, member of the Kalmius group that deals with research, reintegration and resolution of the situation in the Donbass Alexey Matsuka says that the majority of citizens in the occupied territories are waiting and ready for the return of Ukrainian sovereignty.

“We are supported by a research company GfK Ukraine conducted surveys on the topic - are the residents of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions ready for the return of Donbass to Ukraine. Surveys of experts were held in twelve cities, 96 experts took part in them, and we found out that the overwhelming majority are ready for such a scenario. Nobody voiced plans to detach the Donbass, unlike politicians who are trying to earn points on this, ”says Alexey Matsuka to the Voice of America Russian service correspondent.

Oleksiy Matsuka believes that today the Ukrainian authorities and the government should “finally and irrevocably” adopt a mechanism of political and diplomatic resolution of the conflict.

“It is necessary to develop an intelligible plan for the reintegration of Donbass with a set of specific measures and with simplification of travel through the Check-in and Check-Out Points (KPVV). And then the process will be more active, more people will be able to leave the occupied territories and join the Ukrainian society, this will strengthen the interpersonal dialogue, ”said Alexey Matsuka.

Observations on the situation in the border areas with the line of demarcation, he said, show that at the household level, people quickly find a common language between themselves.

“In Ukraine, too, there are such sufficient aggressive horns - one of the political parties says that a peaceful settlement equals to capitulation, although these are two different processes. But people are ready to forgive, and the specifics of ending the conflict in the east will be that ordinary citizens will find a common language faster than politicians can achieve this, ”emphasizes Alexei Matsuka.

He believes that the rhetoric of resolving the situation in the Donbas from the mouth of political actors and Facebook is different from the opinions of ordinary people.