DONETSK, Ukraine – It started as a promising project for the Russian-separatist authorities: to pay pensioners so they no longer needed to depend on the Ukrainian authorities, eliminating the cumbersome travel for days to reach a bank in the Ukrainian-held territories.
The authorities in Russian-occupied Donetsk took over several empty branches of the Ukrainian bank Ochadbank, and renamed it the Donetsk Republic National Bank, where retirees could go to to collect their pensions. It came in rubles, however, since the money came from Russia.
But now the State Security Service of Ukraine said the separatists could not pay in June because of a delay in money transactions.
The Russian-separatist authorities in Donetsk, however, denied that pensions aren’t paid. According to an employee named Katya Rybka, who works for the separatists’ Ministry of Revenues and Taxes, it is absolutely “nonsense” and, according to her, “the elderly are being taken care of well enough.”
She blamed the Ukrainians for making it “nearly impossible for old people to collect pensions, because they happened to live on our territory,” Rybka said. “If you really think that pensioners aren’t being paid here, then you should just visit a bank and see yourself. They do receive their pensions.”
A few hundred yards from the ministry’s building is a former Ukrainian state-owned Ochadbank, recognizable by its dark green letters in the logo. Even though it was taken over by the Russian-separatist forces, they didn’t change the name.
Outside the branch, dozens of people stand in line waiting. But the line is not moving and the door of the bank’s branch is locked and closed.
“The end of the month has already passed, but we haven’t received our pensions,” complained 76-year-old Svetlana, who leans on a wooden walking stick. “My husband died four months ago. My sons live in Dnipropetrovsk. And I am here, all alone and forgotten.”
She feared giving her last name because publicly criticizing the Russian-separatist authorities can be dangerous. After an anti-war rally was held in Donetsk on June 15, citizens who openly criticize the regime are followed by ex-cops and others.
Another man who also stands waiting in the line decides to sit on a small bench and puts his head down between his legs.
“Why?” he said, some tears pouring from his cheeks.
He introduces himself as Nazar, a 86-year-old Donetsk native who never thought he had to endure another war. “Why are they doing this to us? If I leave Donetsk, then where do I get my pensions?” Nazar desperately wondered.
His wife died years before and he no longer sees his children and grandchildren. “They left. I don’t know where. I didn’t want to leave, so they abandoned me,” he said.
Nazar depends on the Russian-separatist authorities and he supports them. “Why consider living among Nazis?” he said, referring to the Ukrainian people.
The worsening situation in the separatist-held territories affects regular civilians socially and financially.
More spontaneous protests amid the crisis in Russian-held Donetsk might be the result if the Russian-separatist authorities cut off or delay social benefits for pensioners.
That is already happening at the Donetsk Republic National Bank, where pensions are simply not paid out.
