Russia's War Against Ukraine
OP-ED
Alexander J. Motyl: Separatists terrorizing, kidnapping, beating citizens in Ukraine
An effigy depicting a representative of the Kiev authorities is hung over a barricade in the eastern Ukranian city of Slavyansk on May 13, 2014. Europe stepped up diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis in Ukraine Tuesday, with the German foreign minister in Kiev pushing authorities and pro-Moscow rebels to come together at the negotiating table. AFP PHOTO / VASILY MAXIMOV
Several weeks ago, I had written of a woman, G, from the town of Druzhkivka, in Donetsk Province, who had noted in her last e-mail to me: “Alexander, they will kill us.” In turn, I had ended my blog post with the comforting words: “I haven’t heard from G since that last note. Although I’m sure she and her family are safe, I still shudder at the thought of how terrified she must have been to have expected death—for nothing more than her identity as a Ukrainian in the unremittingly hostile environment created by Putin’s deliberate attempt to create havoc in her country.”
