At odds with propaganda: human rights activist explains why militants do not open checkpoints in Donbas

Representative of the Verkhovna Rada ombudsman for human rights in the Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts Pavlo Lysianskyi told why the passage of people at the majority of road borders with CADLO was blocked by pro-Russian militants, - Suspilne writes.

In his opinion, the occupiers closed free crossing of the demarcation line in the Donbas not because of the epidemiological situation with COVID-19, but because of the ceasefire and the emergence of problems for Russian propaganda.

Pavlo Lysianskyi notes that residents of CADLO pay more attention to socio-economic issues under the conditions of the truce and, therefore, a pass to the territory of Ukraine, which provides social guarantees, creates difficulties for the propaganda of the Russian Federation.

"For the Russian Federation, this temporary truce is worse than a war, because when there are hostilities, their propaganda in the temporarily occupied territory works to intimidate people and they spread the message in the media that "Ukraine is killing". Now, when there is a truce, residents of the temporarily occupied territories are raising issues of a socio-economic nature - where the roads, the salaries, the enterprises, the jobs and the normal life are. The opening of checkpoints in such conditions is another blow to the occupiers, because Ukraine promptly opened its points and equipped them for the people's convenience. But nothing of the kind was done on the other side", - the expert shared his thoughts.

He also recalled that now there are restrictions on the part of Ukraine at the checkpoints on the border with CADLO, but they apply only to a certain category of citizens. "But in the occupied territory, the militants simply closed the checkpoints. People go through the Russian border in order to get to the territory of Ukraine. That is, through the state border of Ukraine, but from the territory of the Russian Federation, since not everyone is allowed to enter the checkpoints", - Pavlo Lysianskyi told.

The human rights activist stressed that restricting the passage of people to the territory of Ukraine has become especially critical in the context of the "catastrophic" epidemiological situation in CADLO.

"There are no antiseptics and antibiotics in pharmacies. For example, antibiotics can be bought, but at a more expensive price, as well as in the markets of Luhansk and Donetsk. Recently, there was a message that the Red Cross transferred humanitarian aid to the temporarily occupied territory and they took it. However, over the past five years, the occupiers have demonstrated that they do not need humanitarian aid from international organizations, and they took it only in the Russian Federation", - Lysianskyi noted.