Members of the European Parliament Rebecca Harms, Michal Boni and Jaromir Stetina, who together with Vice Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Iryna Gerashchenko and Ukrainian parliamentarians Maria Ionova and Andriy Lopushynsky visited Donbas. They were able to assess the situation in Maryinka, the eponymous check point and nearby positions of Ukrainian military, as well as to talk to local residents.
“As members of the Parliamentary Committee for [EU-Ukraine] Association we wanted to talk to villagers near the line of contact, visit the check point, talk with IDPs and to visit the front line, the Ukrainian military. It is a pity that only three MEPs out of the 20 who originally planned to go to the east, ventured to make this important trip to see with their own eyes whether it is possible to hold elections there when the same European parliament has recommended its members not to go further than Kyiv because of the danger,” Gerashchenko wrote on her Facebook page on Monday.
“Today it is Maryinka, Lenin Street renamed into Prokofiev Street. Locals are joking gloomily that every night they are facing the music… This morning there was shooting by a sniper. The enemy positions are just 500 meters away… A family with two young children, one child with epilepsy, so each shelling ends in heavy epileptic seizure. They showed pieces of grenades, which hit their home a year ago… the Europeans are shocked. They are going down to the cellar, where the family spends nights when the Grads and mortars are hitting,” Gerashchenko said.
According to the Verkhovna Rada vice speaker, there still people living in Maryinka and the neighboring Krasnohorivka. Some 5,000 people currently live in Maryinka alone. “There are problems with gas and electricity, the enemy does not allow maintenance of the electricity grids and people are expecting to go through the winter without heat and light. An excavator, which was holding repairs and laying pipes, has been shelled three times now,” she said.
Gerashchenko also spoke about the MEPs visit to Maryinka checkpoint. According to her, everything was quite at the check point on Monday, however a few days ago it was closed due to shelling.
“The European guests were able to talk to people from the occupied territories. They go to the government-controlled areas to get pensions and cheaper products,” Gerashchenko said. In her words, it was important for locals to see foreigners in their area.
In addition, the group of MEPs visited the place of deployment of Ukrainian military, where they saw their living conditions.
“Our European counterparts believe that those who argue for lifting of sanctions from Russia, should come here, to see the effects of ‘brotherly love’ on Maryinka,” the vice speaker of the Verkhovna Rada said.
