VOLNOVAKHA, Ukraine – Her stylish blonde hair and high heels turn the heads of Ukrainian soldiers as she descends the bus, one soldier checking her passport at the checkpoint that leads to the small Ukrainian-controlled city of Volnovakha, some 40 kilometers south of Russian-separatist territory.
The woman, 24-year-old Anastasia Reva, is on her way to her parents, who still live in
Volnovakha and who never have left the city during Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Reva does respect the actions of the Ukrainian army in her native city of 23,000 people.
“For some residents
here it feels like a bunch of west Ukrainians are occupying them,” she said.
Volnovakha made
headlines on Jan. 13, when Russian proxies fired missiles towards a highway
checkpoint, hitting a civilian bus and killing 12 innocent passengers.
Russian-separatist authorities initially admitted the attack that “successfully
hit a Ukrainian blockpost,” but after they found out that missiles hit a
civilian bus, they withdrew their statement and denied any involvement, saying
the Ukrainian army was behind it. This “act of terror,” as both the Ukrainian
government and the Russian-separatists described it, remain fresh in the memories
of the residents of Volnovakha.
“My mother goes
once every two weeks to Donetsk to visit my younger brother who lives there.
When I heard the news of the bus attack, my body felt paralyzed, fearing for my
parents. It simply meant that wherever you are, you are never safe,” Reva explained. “Since the
attack my parents started to dislike the Ukrainian army even more. Many in this
town feel alienated with some soldiers from west Ukraine, whom they just can’t
sympathize with. I don’t have statistics, but my bet is that the majority in
this town would prefer separatists to ‘liberate’ it.”
Tensions remain as Ukrainian army soldiers patrol the streets.
One
soldier, only giving his first name Anton, says that Volnovakha is a stronghold
for spies and saboteurs that aid the Russian-separatists in Donetsk.
“We’re in
the biggest town from the south before entering the enemy-held territories. The
enemy also operates here, in the shadows,” Anton explained
He
urges outsiders not to walk outside in the night because of gangs linked to the
separatists.
“You won’t be the first that will be kidnapped from who we’ll
never hear back something again.”
Anton talks
about last June when the head of the Volnovakha traffic police, known by his
guerilla name “Zombie,” was arrested because he actively aided
Russian-separatist forces, giving out information of Ukrainian positions,
organizing delivery of weapons and coordinating escape routes of sabotage
groups.
Donbas has
always been known by its variety of criminal gangs. It seems that some of these
gangs have chosen side for the Russian combined separatists.
On March 21, Security Service of Ukraine officer Victor Manzyk was murdered in Volnovakha. In Dnepropetrovsk
advanced weapons such as grenade launchers and rocket launchers were found in
an apartment of one of the suspects.
After
the incident, Interior Minister Arsen Avakov disclosed that a total of 11
suspects were arrested linked to different participating criminal gangs in the
Donetsk area. Four of them were directly involved in the incident, making
them the main suspects, according to Avakov.
Mayor Sergey
Demchenko, an ally of ex-President Viktor Yanukovych, didn’t want to talk to the Kyiv Post.
The deputy mayor
of Volnovakha, Igor Seydamovich, was willing to talk though.
“All suspects are
still in custody,” he said.
He didn’t want to speak, though, of any details
about the progress of a criminal case and how many were in pre-trial detention.
“That’s a matter for the prosecutor’s office and the SBU. I don’t know anything
about that.”
Seydamovich acknowledged that support for the separatists is a “problem” in Volnovakha.
Anton claims
that the shootout was welcomed by a group of Volnovakha civilians as well.
“It’s
no secret that many here have pro-Russian views, and wish Volnovakha would be
part of the separatist-territory. Civilians that heard about the murder saw it
as a sign that our, the Ukrainian, control was shrinking,” he explained.
Outside a small
kiosk, a middle-aged woman puts some of her groceries in her large plastic bag.
Food is scarce in Volnovakha, and the kiosks on the deserted streets profit
from the largely empty supermarkets.
Valeria Beletsky, 54, complains
to the cashier of the kiosk. “Two months ago you were selling me water for two hryvnia less!” she shouted at the young woman at the counter after thoroughly
reading her receipt.
“Damn the Ukrainians,” she mumbled.
Beletsky was
born and raised in Volnovakha.
She’s seen Russia’s war against Ukraine from the
start, and doesn’t support the Kyiv government.
“They’re
thieves! I’ve seen bombs, grenades, dead people, and why? Because that
government in Kyiv didn’t respect the Donbas people’s desire to not become
European, or whatever!” she kept shouting, becoming emotional. “They’re talking
Ukrainian to me. I don’t understand that. It’s as if a bunch of strangers
occupy us here in Volnovakha. Make them leave!”
Asking if
Beletsky wants to move and live in Donetsk, oddly, she answers the question
with a firm “no” without any further explanation.
Fortunately for
the Ukrainian soldiers in Volnovakha, there’s people who actively support them. One of them is 21-year-old Vitaliy Volyanik, who walks up front to
a group of soldiers that stand smoking a cigarette in front of the Volnovakha
train station. “Glory to
Ukraine!” Volyanik said, as the soldiers respond: “Heroes don’t die!”
Volyanik, a
native from Donetsk, explains his support for Ukrainian soldiers. “They’re here to protect
us. Anyone that thinks that Ukraine is occupying Volnovakha should move to the real
occupiers themselves. I’m from Donetsk and I’ve fled my hometown, because it
was occupied. And I thank these brave soldiers who are here to protect me.”
