"Everything we had, almost all of our military resource, we handed over under Russia’s control". Review of the separatist media

Judging by the reports of the "official" media of the "republics", nothing is happening on the territories beyond Kyiv's control, except only "cultural and patriotic" events and, of course, "shelling by the Ukrainian army". Meanwhile, publications of the "opposition" website of the Patriotic Forces of Donbass, at least between the lines, make it clear that there is a quiet riot against the Russian “Donbass policy” among the former separatist leaders. What it will lead to is an open question. In the "LPR" this problem was solved proactively, simply by "removing" all former separatist leaders.

Claims against Russia

The head of the Patriotic Forces of Donbass and the illegal armed formation Vostok Alexander Khodakovsky last week continued to resent the situation with the Minsk agreements. "This is some kind of occupation for individual people involved in the process, for example, in the work of "Minsk" subgroups. One, two or three dozen people who regularly fly there, have the opportunity to travel and solve their business issues. "Minsk" became a closed club, but only for those who are directly involved in it. Sure, why not fly to Minsk for "chatting" with someone from Ukraine, to become friends, to "settle" any of your personal questions. Such a platform allows you to agree on something. I am far from thinking that people who participate in negotiation processes do not communicate with each other on a personal level. They drink tea together, and maybe not just tea. They talk about something, discuss something. And for me it is disgusting that they come here afterwards and say that Minsk is necessary".

"Why there are claims against Russia?" — He explained the obvious. — "Because since the signing of the Minsk agreements Russia has not only acted as guarantor of these agreements, but it has also taken practical steps to back its status as guarantor. Everything we had, almost all of our military resource, we handed over under its control. I will not delve into the specifics. Any person who understands politics knows well what that means. For example, I handed over everything that I had accumulated from May to July — about 4 thousand soldiers. If the process was not stopped, I would have had 12 thousand people by the end of the year, and, after all, my unit was not the only one. There were Bezler, Zakharchenko. On average, the proportion was the same for all, and if we were not removed from management of our main military resources, not the ones that we had left, then we would have a completely different situation. The problem is that we were deprived of the right to defend ourselves. That is, we, as local representatives, leaders who led the people to protect this territory, were deprived of that right. First of all, because of Russia and fulfillment of "Minsk". But after depriving us of the opportunity to protect ourselves, Russia must protect us. That is why the question is to Russia. And any Russian who is insulted because we ask such a question should understand why we are doing this".

"Of course, it should be said that if Russia did not intervene and did not offer assistance, we would lose", - Khodakovsky noted. "With greater or lesser probability, we would be defeated within two to three weeks in August 2014, even before the signing of the first "Minsk". On my front, the situation was quite stable, because we were considered one of the most combat-ready units and could hold back the enemy. But if the enemy cut us off at the Ilovaisk-Khartsyzsk-Zhdanivka-Yenakiieve area, in the rear, my agony would have lasted a little longer. But we would have fought anyway. And now there is a slow strangulation. We are losing, but in a different way. We lose confidence in Russia, because it has assumed the guarantees of the implementation of Minsk agreements on our behalf. We are controlled, we are not given the opportunity to defend ourselves. Taking the warehouses from me, all the heavy weapons, taking it under control, they do not give me opportunities to conduct a "parity dialogue" with Ukraine. My inaction to Ukraine is guaranteed. And who guarantees the actions of Ukraine?".

The leader of the Patriotic Forces of Donbass did not mention the fact that "Minsk" was not actually implemented by any of the parties. Moreover, he constantly contradicted himself: in his previous texts he called unacceptable the return of the "republics" to Ukraine, which is envisaged in the Minsk agreements; then he was outraged by the failure of Ukraine to implement Minsk agreements; after that he accused the "DPR" representatives of being interested in traveling to Minsk for "solving their business problems"; then he recognized that they themselves are servile people.

Thus, according to Khodakovsky, "what our authorities say is their charge for power. When they were given the power, they were bought in bulk. It was clear that signing "Minsk agreements" was someone else’s will. It must be said for the sake of objectivity, that Zakharchenko tried to resist. He did not want to be seen as a traitor when he renounced any settlements or signed these agreements. He tried to fight. Because, for example, they wanted to take Dokuchaevsk from us and did not want to recognize Debaltseve. When he still had some symbolic voting, Zakharchenko tried not disgrace himself, even tried to build up his position, to avoid being branded a traitor in the eyes of the people”.

He summed up his text with the statement that "we must take the game out of this Jesuit form, when the "elder brothers" decide for us, when we sign the contracts and negotiate. Let the ones, who decide, sign and be responsible, provide guarantees. Then the situation will begin to settle down". At the same time, it remained unclear what he meant: the stability of the implementation of the Minsk agreements?

Khodakovsky explained his position in another text published on Patriotic Forces of Donbass website. It said that in order to change the situation, "an entirely new format is needed, and it will depend on a global strategy. If the collection of Russian lands is completed, then Russia must take effective measures to ensure the security of our territory, up to the introduction of the peacekeeping forces". And this is noteworthy, since it means that the longtime adherent of the idea of ​​the Donbass entry into Russia no longer believes that this is possible, and counts only on the Russian "peacekeeping forces", as in Transnistria.

The analogy is not accidental. "Republican" media wrote quite a lot about Transnistria last week — in connection with the fact that Ukraine allegedly expects to set up a blockade on this unrecognized country too, together with Moldova.

Here is what Khodakovsky wrote about "Minsk": "A verdict was delivered to Ukraine more than two months ago: it will be no more in the usual form in sixty days. This phrase caused a lot of mockery and comments, but in fact Zakharchenko's fault is only that he could not resist the "prophecy", having found out about the sharp exacerbation of the crisis in the relations between Russia and Ukraine and the readiness of the first for strict measures. We will not blame the inclined to rash statements person for the desire to earn a little in terms of rating. However, it is also possible that he was simply asked to make this statement. Then the demonstrated and hidden signs of preparation for activation which could loose one knot, but tie many others consequently, started at the remote from Donetsk territory. About twenty thousand reservists came on the field near Torez, the Union of Donbass Volunteers announced the gathering of veterans, about what the network immediately began talking, we started the units' regeneration… There were other, much more conspiratorial steps and actions, which divided us in the aggregate into two camps: those who believed that a qualitative bluff was taken place and those who regarded the situation as more than real".

"There was the arrival of the US Secretary of State then — and all was qualitatively changed: preparing for activation was scrapped from top to bottom. Ukraine has increased the military pressure, causing the growth of popular discontent by the war and the lack of prospects for its completion, the familiar reporters from Russian media received a command not be carried away by treatment of this fact in Russia, and at the same time, Russia suddenly started talking about the benefits of "Minsk" on the central channels again, which was picked up by our local talking heads. They make clear to us, so to speak: do not you want the war? — So here is the solution — Minsk!!! Take it, use in good health".

"These are obvious political strategies, — the leader of "Vostok" concluded. — We are being deprived of options, putting the logic of events into two interdependent concepts: there will not be "Minsk" —there will be the war; do not want the war — put up with "Minsk". And they look at our reaction… Are we ready or not yet? Moreover, we are offered the war that is happening exactly now: tedious, exhausting… pre-dosed. At the same time, a card with Transnistria is being played, which the "pro-Russian" Dodon stated that Transnistrian people have no different way than back to Moldova— there again, with a quiet silence of the official Russian media…".

People who run the Donetsk "republic" with Khodakovsky were also accused of silence. As it was stated in one of the articles on the Patriotic Forces of Donbass website, also about "Minsk", "taciturnity and indecision, when it comes to internal problems of the DPR, is a real scourge of republican politicians and officials. At the same time, when it comes to phenomena that either affect the republic indirectly, or do not concern it at all, the opinion appears to everyone. It is enough, for example, to look at the official website of the People's Council of the DPR. You will find there the opinions of deputies about the disconnection of water supply in Odessa, the real attitude of Ukrainians to Petro Poroshenko, the deterioration of crime situation in Ukraine, as well as about many other things, but not about the internal problems of the republic, solving of which is the direct responsibility of lawmakers".

However, in fact, the statement of the "People's Council" head Denis Pushylin was on its website. "Over 10 thousand people died during the conflict, more than 1.5 million people were displaced. People are forced to suffer just because they want to speak their native language and live freely. Citizens of the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics live this nightmare, launched by the government of Ukraine, every day. What is happening now is a civil war. There are a lot of opponents of the Minsk agreements now, but they (the Minsk agreements – editor's note) are a chance for both the residents of Donbass and the Ukrainian people, because, in fact, peace negotiations presuppose the death of the "Maidan" power – the power that came as a result of the coup", — he mysteriously broadcasted without going into explanations.

Miracles of the Luhansk "republic"

In turn, a victory was forged in Luhansk as best they could. So, the Luhansk Information Center reported last week that "the MIA of the LPR is ready to pay for the important reliable information about the Kyiv security officials and their crimes in the Donbass", referring to the "Minister of the Interior of the Republic, the Major General of the Police" Igor Cornet. "He noted that everyone interested can call from the controlled by Kyiv territories by the telephone hotline of the MIA of the LPR to provide this information. The minister recalled that a serviceman of the 8th Special Operations Regiment of the Main Intelligence Directorate (MID) of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine sold earlier the lists of personnel of his unit to the LPR police that way. "Thanks to this, we were able to more closely document the crimes committed by the servicemen of this regiment not only in the LPR, but in the DPR as well", — Cornet told. The MIA is ready to pay for information in future, this is a normal world practice, and it is very effective", — the minister stressed".

The report is ridiculous not least because the same LIC wrote a week earlier that as much as hundred people from the territory of the Luhansk oblast, which is under the control of Kyiv, had phoned to the "People's Militia" of the Luhansk "republic" with complaints against the Ukrainian military only over the weekend. Nothing was said at that time about the reward for these fantasies about how the "Ukrofacists" took away the fish from the boy who had caught it. It was noted even in the message quoted above that "about thousand residents of the Luhansk districts controlled by Kyiv had appealed to the telephone hotline of the MIA of the LPR after its launch in April of this year within the framework of the Humanitarian program for the reunification of the Donbass people". Obviously, now they have the right to demand a well-deserved reward.

But the report of the Luhansk Information Center under the heading "Police officers detained three malefactors who tried to steal the road in Luhansk" was the best in this hit parade. The road?!

"The officers of the Luhansk Police have detained three malefactors who tried to steal the road in the Artiomovskiy district of the capital of the Republic. This was reported in the Center for Public Relations (CPR) of the MIA of the LPR, — the report said. — "In the early morning of May 24, police patrols of the patrol service battalion (PSB) of the MIA, patrolling the territory of the Artiomovskiy district, paid attention to some strange road works. They lay in the fact that workers removed concrete bays from the road and loaded them on trucks. The law enforcement officials went to the workers, and it turned out that there were no documents for carrying out such works: three men just drove over by two Kamaz trucks and a MAZ mobile crane and began to disassemble the road carpet", — was told in the Ministry. Pseudo road workers managed to remove and load 38 concrete bays of 1.5 x 1.7 m size on the cars until the arrival of patrol officers".

The review was prepared by Sofia Petrovska, OstroV