There is an endless number of military vehicles moving down Oboronna Street, a central one in Luhansk, in western direction. These machines are so common in the city that almost every citizen here is now an expert in Russian military equipment and every child can distinguish the sound of Grad multiple rocket launcher and its ammunition, says Galina, a local resident who did not want to give her last name. They can list all the locations where this whole armada moves from, where it goes or gets repaired.
“I
ask my fellow (Luhansk residents): what did the rebels liberate you
from? In my case, from a peaceful life, a salary and a car,” one
local woman complains.
After
the so-called Novorossiya was separated from the rest of the country
by the front line, several quasi-states were formed there. So Ukraine
will now have to deal not with a complete anarchy, but with a sort of
a system.
New
Donetsk
Enrique Menendez,
an entrepreneur and volunteer who lives in Donetsk, says that that
Ukrainian banking system no longer functions in the so-called
“republic”. But local retail chains still operate terminals
somehow. He shows his phone with a confirmation of a card payment in
a Donetsk store. It says that money was taken off his account when he
bought food. But the transaction registers as if it it took place Not
in Donetsk, but in Zaporizhia. “Obviously, they’re tricking the
circumstances. Life makes them do it,” he says.
Menendez
also talks about other gradual adjustments. There is no anarchy in
Donetsk like there had been before. But in smaller towns kozaks and
other rebel groups are still trying to carve up power, occasionally
with the help of weapons.
There
has been a bank set up in the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic.
(DNR). The closed branches of other banks have been marked as
“property of the Central bank”. Some supermarkets, for example
the Amstor chain, issue receipts with DNR markings, Menendez says.
By early January, more than 4,000 enterprises had registered with the
fiscal service of the DNR.
“The
ministries looked pathetic initially, but now they have some
professionals involved. For example, the tax department is headed by
a person with no-de-guerre Tashkent. Obviously, he does not know much
about taxes. But his deputy is an official who once had the same
office while it was still Ukraine. That is why other tax workers came
back to the fiscal service,” he says.
Donetsk
blogger Denys Kazanskiy who lives in Kyiv now, says that the local
parliament also functions in its own way, even though it’s basically
accidental people who ended up there. Those who made it to the
building of the regional legislature first are now members of
parliament.
“There
were some totally comical characters who ended up there. For example,
someone wearing a cockerel-shaped hat. Or a neo-Nazi. Part of them
has stayed, part was reelected,” Kazanskiy says.
In
the website of the DNR legislature to be believed, the process of
making legislation is in full swing. Apparently, recently the
deputies voted for laws on civil defense, fire safety, military duty
and service.
Chief
Editor of the Donetsk news site “Ostro” Sergey Garmash, who has
been living between Kyiv and Donbass noticed one more detail: the
communal services works better in Donetsk than in the rest of
Ukraine. “Snow and debris from shelling get cleaned up instantly.
Previously, their motives were limited with a small salary. But now
they’re watched over by people with guns,” Garmash explains.
He
says the self-proclaimed government got a hold of really important
documents. When the regional administration moved from Donetsk to
Mariupol, all the archives, including databases of the Pension Fund
and police service, were left behind. It helps the DNR to track down
people.
Security
agencies of the DNR seem to function the best, though. Menendez says
that the local army numbers18,000 people and camouflaged law
enforcers – a further 16,000. The local policemen received
reinforcements from volunteers from Russia and Transnistria, a
breakaway region of Moldova.
The
prosecutor’s office and even several judges also function. They used
to work for Ukraine, but switched sides.
Life
in Luhank
Luhansk
works in a similar way, but the republic looks weaker in comparison
to the Donetsk one.
The
economic success of the Luhansk People’s Republic (LNR) is such that
the local government introduced the same salary for all categories of
workers. “It does not matter if you’re a university professor or
street sweeper, your salary limit is Hr 1,200,” says Alexander
Volganskiy, a local resident.
Jobs
are scarce, and salaries paid in parts, Hr 200 per month. But the
insurgent forces are promised $500. “Some decide to join the
rebels. But there people were then thrown into the midst of fighting
in Debaltseve. Nobody has come back alive,” says Galina, the
Luhansk resident, bitterly.
Volganskiy
says the further from the city, the worse the situation is. Prices
get higher and jobs even more rare.
Local
journalist Denys Kyrkach says that only those businesses that have
made deals with the local government or are a part of it, remain
active. A 28-year-old son of an an LNR official took over Ukraina
cinema, renamed it into Rus and is trying to entice clients with
special offers, such as free screenings.
The
rest of the business is frozen. Real estate is the best illustration:
nothing can be bought or sold, and even the separatists recognize it.
Olena
Reshetnyak, a resident of Rovenky, a town located in LNR, says the
local authorities have introduced a new tax for small business.
Everyone has to pay per retail outlet. Food is twice as expensive as
in Ukraine. Hospitals are still working but no surgeries are
available because of absence of anesthetics.
“There
is only one doctor and two nurses in the infections department. The
situation is absolutely desperate, but people continue to believe
that some Ukrainian underground groups roam the city and create
provocations,” she says.
Dmitry,
a coal miner who works for Ronevkyantratsyt, who spoke on condition
of anonymity, says that they have only two working days a month.
Because of this some coal miners join insurgent forces to save their
families from starving.
In
the meantime, schools in LNR are in the process of transformation-
they are getting ready to switch to the Russian curriculum.
Universities are also functioning and promise their students to issue
Russian-style diplomas, even though Moscow has been saying it has
nothing to do with the self-proclaimed republic.
What
has changed little in the new republic is the administrative
structure. It stayed almost the same as before. Volganskiy says that
almost all mayors of towns in LNR used to work for executive bodies.
The
office of Lugansk mayor was taken by Manolys Pylavov, the previous
mayor’s deputy. The former first deputy of the mayor of Krasnodonsks
and member of Party of Regions, Sergey Kozenko, now is head of
Krasnodon. The mayor of Stahanov is Sergey Zhevalkov, former member
of the Party of Regions who is close to Oleksandr Yefremov.,
ex-leader of this party’s faction in parliament.
But
to take a leadership position in the LNR, the successful candidate
has to possess some real physical power. Every minister has their
own armed group. Igor Plotnitskiy, the leader of LNR, controls a
couple of them. “This is the only one way to survive in the
republic,” Kyrkach, the journalist, says. Head of the LNR has been
concentrating power gradually and getting rid of unwanted rivals.
Between
Ukraine and Somali
Ukraine’s
government will have to cooperate with both the more developed
administrative structures as the DNR, and poorly developed LNR if the
most recent Minsk deal is to stick.
In
this case, Menendez says, Donbas will have a chance to get
reintegrated into Ukraine, with the help of foreign aid given for
reconstruction. But Kyrkach says reintegration of citizens in the
region will take years.
“There
is a great number of brainwashed and offended people. It will take
some time to explain to them what is white and what is black,” he
says.
But
the Minsk peace deal is more likely to fail. Sergey Kapanadze,
former deputy executive of Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who
took part in negotiations during the war in Georgia in 2008, says LNR
and DNR will be accusing Kyiv of all troubles.
That
is why Ukraine should not rush to talk to the governments of the
so-called republics. Political expert Volodymyr Fesenko says that the
West considers freezing of the conflict as the best-case scenario,
with construction of a defensive wall around of the occupied
territory.
Taras
Berezovets,, another political consultant, agrees. He says that the
conflict can be frozen for five years, during which Ukraine should
reform its economy and make it grow. In the meantime, the DNR and LNR
will turn into a Somali. “Russia will lose its interest in it and
in five years the Ukrainian army will get these territories back.
This is the most desirable option for us,” the expert says.
Editor’s
note: This story was first published in Novoye
Vremya magazine. It is reprinted with permission.
