IZVARYNE, Ukraine -- Ukrainian officers at a far eastern border checkpoint near Izvaryne in Luhansk Oblast say they are lucky to be alive. On May 8, some 40 armed Russian-backed militiamen came to their work station about 6 p.m. and demanded their weapons.
When Ukraine’s border guards refused to give them up, the insurgents got angry and threw Molotov cocktails at them and fired warning shots in the air.
The confrontation lasted some 30 minutes, witnessed by hundreds of civilians, on both the Ukrainian and Russian sides of the border.
“Thank God none of us lost their nerve and didn’t shot anyone as otherwise that would be the end to all,” said the border guard, who didn’t want to be identified beause he was not authorized to give public statements.
Then pro-Russian insurgents left, leaving behind smashed windows and started a fire that heavily damaged the checkpoint.
Since then, the border has been closed here, an inconvenience for people who use it daily. But the border guards keep coming to work, sitting with Kalashnikovs amid ashes. The border guard said that even before the confrontation on May 8, there were many problems at this location.
On May 7, the day before the checkpoint battle, there was more excitement. An armored car “Tiger” given to Kremlin-backed separatists in Luhansk by Russian ultra-nationalist member of parliament Vladimir Zhironovsky broke through the border checkpoint, even thought Ukrainian border guards fired on it.
A
week ago armed men were coming to check point demanding officers to give them their
guns and using unarmed civilians as human shields. “Women were walking first and men with Kalashnikovs behind their backs,” the border guard said.
Since separatists proclaimed the Luhansk People’s Republic on May 12, relations between Ukrainian border guards and some residents of Izvaryne worsened.
The village with some 1,700 people has for decades stayed alive, owing to its close proximity to both nations. Residents have been working at the mines in Ukrainian Krasnodon and Russian Donetsk, just across the border. So the destruction of border checkpoint was sad.
Still, people come to a barrier near the burned-out checkpoint with heavy bags, hoping that border guards will allow them to cross the border for “one last moment.”
“Please, could you just pass this bag to my son, who studies in Russia?” a worried-looking woman begs the border guards.
“I would be happy to help you, lady, but the checkpoint doesn’t work as you see,” answered a young border officer.
The locals don’t believe that Russian-backed insurgents, whom they mostly support, burned down their checkpoint, and made them travel some 50 kilometers further to cross the border.
Tetiana Stokolias, who also came to the border hoping she could get to Russia through Izvaryne, is sure that some “provocateurs” from Kyiv attacked the border guards here.
Stokolias participated in the referendum on May 11, whose results weren’t recognized by any country. Now she considers herself a resident of Novorosiya, or New Russia, President Vladimir Putin’s claim to southeast Ukraine.
Born in northern Zhytomyr Oblast, Stokolias said she has always considered Ukraine as her motherland and never wanted to live in Russia, but now she fears people from Kyiv’s EuroMaidan Revolution, blaming them for the bloody events in Odessa.
“But sometimes I dream that we just move back to the life we had half a year ago under Yanukovych,” she said. “Then we all were peacefully living together in Ukraine.” She said she won’t vote in presidential elections on May 25, becaue she’s not interest in any of the candidates.
The non-functioning checkpoint is still a gathering place to share the latest news and chat about politics.
Mykhailo Denikin, mayor of Izvaryne, said it was yet to decide who the authority in this area was: the Luhansk People’s Republic, Novorossiya or Kyiv.
He said he won’t ban the holding of the May 25 presidential elections in this village, but he is sure no one will vote.
When front-runner and millionaire member of parliament Petro Poroshenko “dared to show up here, the locals made him run away,” Denikin said, adding that other presidential candidates will get an equally cold welcome.
However, Denikon was sad that relations with relatives in Kherson Oblast on Ukraine’s south were marred by the current split of Ukraine. “But I also have relatives in Russia and they support us and invite to go to them if needed.”
The border guard, aside from politics, was worried about his salary.
“The new authorities have been promising to raise our pay 2.5 times. But we are waiting this for three months already and with no result,” he said. “Is this normal when being an officer with 30 years in service I make no more than Hr 2,600 per month?”
Despite the low pay, Andriy said he doesn’t want to live in Russia, despite the higher salaries there.
“I think we need to make order in our country,” he said. “This is crazines. All these: Luhansk Republic, Donetsk Republic. Maybe soon we’ll get Krasnodon Republic as well” he joked, referring to a regional city in Luhansk Oblast.
Editor’s Note: This article has been produced with support from the project www.mymedia.org.ua, financially supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, and implemented by a joint venture between NIRAS and BBC Media Action.The content in this article may not necessarily reflect the views of the Danish government, NIRAS and BBC Action Media.
